His Best Friend's Crush
by SnOwYfOrEsT
Summary: My best friend fell in love with her the moment she stepped on Karakura's dock. I fell in love with her insight when I had the chance to know her better. I am Hitsugaya Toushirou. Izuru Kira is my best friend. And Hinamori Momo is my best friend's crush. [Full summary inside] [AU]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! Here's a new story, with a pretty much simple plot, I promise I'll try my best not to twist it too much as I go on with it hahaha. I've been having enough drama in my life recently, so I'll definitely keep this as simple as possible!**

**Full Summary: **

_**Toushirou and Kira have been best friends since when they could remember. They live in a small, peaceful village where everyone knows everyone, secrets can be barely kept and one of the most followed motto is 'First come, first served'. Momo and her family decided to leave the chaotic city life and transfer in tranquil Karakura. Kira falls in love at first sight with Momo, and Toushirou starts questioning the infamous 'First come, first served' motto he's always been following. Will he give up on Momo since Kira got there first, or will he fight for what he feels towards his best friend's crush?**_

**Alright, I know I'm supposed to focus on my other unfinished stories, but I…. I have so many ideas for lots of new stories! And I just had to start writing something D:**

**I do not own Bleach!**

**Hope you guys will like this story **

**oOOOo**

The loud noise of cicadas woke me up from my slumber.

I sat up and looked out of the window, as the sun harshly invaded my room.

Just another summer day.

**Love at first sight**

"Should we go to the beach?" Rukia suggested in her usual hyper tone.

"Nah, why don't we just go and hang out at the park?" Renji countered, loudly sipping on his cold drink.

"I suggest going downtown and do a little bit of shopping." Said Rangiku.

"How about we just stay here, since it's so hot outside?" I said while resting my head on the coffee table.

My comment resulted into a chorus of protests from this loud group of friends that I have, so I just shut up and rolled my eyes.

"Oh, here comes Orihime."

We all looked out of the coffee shop and watched her run with all her might towards the entrance. Leave it to that clumsy girl to trip over nothing and fall.

Rukia and Rangiku ran to her aid, and the three walked in the café laughing. That wasn't an unusual event anymore.

"Why would you run when you know you're going to trip and fall?"

"Ohhh there goes Ichigo in his Big Brother mode!" The guys started teasing Ichigo while Yumichika sighed dreamily "Please notice me senpai!"

"Ichigo was just worried about Orihime." Kira took Ichigo's side while everyone just snickered under their breath.

Orihime laughed nervously "Oh, anyway! News! News!" She started waving her hands frantically "A new family is transferring here!"

"What?" We all said in surprise.

"Why would anyone even bother transferring in this stupid village?" Asked Ikkaku.

"I heard they have a kid who should be around our same age!" The whole group, which was so calm and silent just a few moments ago, suddenly got hyped up by the news.

They started chattering about this new family, wondering and throwing out their stereotypes about people who come from big cities.

"Rich, snotty but hot and smoky."

"Young and frail girl who has to escape from the polluted big city."

"Super fashionista who likes parties!"

"A troublemaker who has been kicked out of countless schools!"

"A proud and loner guy who's actually a tsundere."

"We already have Toushirou for that."

Without bothering to look at Renji, I swiftly kicked his shin under the table, as he doubled over in pain, consequently banging his head on the table in an attempt to rub the pain away from his leg.

Everyone burst out in a fit of laughter, while I just shook my head at Renji who was holding back his tears.

"Whoever this new kid might be will surely get bored in our small town. He or she will definetely go mad in less than two weeks." I said while resting my chin on the palm of my hands, and this started a new riot with my friends, who started panicking, thinking of ways to entertain this newcomer.

I looked out of the big window shop of the café, the village lazily moved along in its usual slow pace. The sky was incredibly cloudy; I hope summer ends soon.

**oOOOo**

"Ice cream has to be the best remedy for hot days." Yumichika sighed happily.

"Shut up, ice cones are better." Retorted Ikkaku. And here's how their arguments usually began, starting up from an innocent or random opinion.

The entire group started discussing which was better between ice cream or ice cones. I just ate my ice cone, as we hung around the stairs that lead to the village's beach.

The discussions stopped when Kira noticed a boat approaching the shore "That must be the new family."

Rukia, Rangiku and Orihime gasped in surprise and quickly ran off to meet the new family, the other guys followed suit.

I rolled my eyes and got up from my seat "Where do they find all of that energy when it's so hot outside?"

Kira simply laughed while Ishida shrugged nonchalantly.

I noticed other people from the village were standing by the railing that divided the beach from the small town, curiously watching the boat stop by the dock.

"Everyone's curious about the new family." Said Ichigo.

"That's to be expected when the last time someone transferred here was so many years ago." Ishida closed the book in his hands and glanced at the dock "Seriously, though. Don't they even feel embarrassed by ambushing the newcomers?"

"Let me remind you that 'embarrassment' is not a familiar word for the rest of the group." Ichigo said laughing, as we slowly approached the said group. "Oh, it's a small family of three people."

I didn't even bother looking towards the dock, I was more engrossed in my fresh snack. But when I noticed Kira's expression, I couldn't help taking a peek towards the dock, wondering what got him looking so struck.

I saw a man with a friendly expression, as he smiled at that noisy group of teens I call friends. Then there was a woman, who looked kind and calm as she put her hand on the crook of the man's arm. Finally I noticed a young girl, who looked to be the same age as us.

Ichigo and Ishida walked ahead and greeted the new family, while I stayed back with Kira, waving my hand in front of his face. He snapped out of his daze, but kept on staring at the girl. "Dude, she's so… cute."

I raised my eyebrows at him, wondering if he was joking around. But that idea quickly faded away when I saw his face redden. Glancing back at the girl, I ate my last bite of ice cone. Cute? She had black hair that reached her shoulders, a perfectly average looking face and she was petite.

I shrugged. _I guess everyone has their own taste_.

She suddenly looked towards me and Kira, her eyes looking curious yet nervous. Rukia and Rangiku looked back towards me and Kira, then turned back to the brunette and kept blabbering about God knows what.

The new girl looked pretty normal to me, the guys' expectation made me unintentionally create an imaginary picture of an incredibly hot and fashionable girl. Or guy.

Rukia signaled me and Kira to reach them, probably wanting us to introduce ourselves.

We formally introduced ourselves to the married couple, then to the brunette who was probably going to be part of our group from now on.

"I'm Hinamori Momo, it's nice to meet you. Please do take care of us from now on." She bowed in such a graceful manner, the kind of bow you wouldn't expect from young people, especially from someone who comes from a big city.

… Maybe that's too stereotypical.

Kira look dumbfounded, but he still managed to smile and introduce himself to the new girl. "Hi…" He held his hand out for a handshake.

I wanted to face palm. The girl just bowed, why would you hold your hand out? I glanced around, noticing how my friends were all holding back their laughter.

Momo looked surprised for a moment, then she smiled and shook Kira's hand anyway. "Hi!"

Kira got red all the way to his ears, as he shook her hand "Welcome to Karakura, Momo-chan."

**oOOOo**

**A/N: Anddddd chapter 1 is done! I hope you guys enjoyed this and I hope you will follow Toushirou through this new journey :)**

**Reviews are much appreciated!**

**I might update this one pretty soon, so look out! :D**

**Toodles!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ciao everyone! :D As promised, here's chapter 2 of His best friend's crush!**

**Thanks to all the readers, reviewers and those who added this story to their fav list, you guys rock!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter **

**Please do leave a review! It helps a lot :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

**oOOOo**

Our eyes met for a brief moment; then she looked back at the rest of my group.

Kira stopped breathing for a moment.

**Neighbor**

"Ne ne, Momo-chan! Why don't we show you around town?"

"Do you like summer? It gets very hot here on summer days, I hope you don't mind the heat as much as a certain white haired guy."

"Say, which one do you think is better? Ice cream or ice cone?"

"Why don't we just let her rest, jeez. She just got here after a long travel, she must be tired."

"How about we all dine out together this evening? So we can all get to know each other better!"

I rolled my eyes at my group's over excitement over the new girl. Look at that, they're already calling her by her first name.

The brunette laughed, I'm not sure if it's because she finds everyone funny or weird. "I think I should go home first and help my parents unpack our things. I'm in for the dinner, though."

The girls squealed in delight and the guys started to teasingly nudge Kira. Oh, so everyone noticed it. "We'll come and pick you up later!" Said Rangiku excitedly, while the girl simply smiled and left with her parents.

When the new family was out of sight, Rangiku turned with a sly smile towards the guys. "A very pretty girl, am I right or am I right?"

"She seems like a good girl." Said Ichigo "I'm sure we'll all get along with her."

"Damn right, especially a certain _someone_." Renji pointedly glanced at Kira and snickered with Ikkaku.

Kira nervously smiled but said nothing, looking lost in his thoughts.

**oOOOo**

"It's gonna sound terribly ridiculous. But I fell in love at first sight with Hinamori-san."

My eyebrows shot up in amusement "And you're telling me, because…?"

Kira buried his face in his hands "Because maybe you also fell for her?"

I rolled my eyes and playfully punched his arm "Shut up, she's not my type."

He looked at me with eager eyes "Really?"

"Of course." I added with a nod "She's all yours. It's the other guys you should be worried about, not me."

A nervous smile spread on his mouth. "Alright, if you say so…"

We all went back home for the afternoon, the girls excused themselves by saying they had to organize the perfect dinner for the newcomer, and we all separated after deciding to just meet up that evening.

The sun shone too bright for my taste; summer here in Karakura was too hot and humid, I wonder if that new girl can resist in such a weather?

Once I reached home, I noticed a big truck standing in front of the house next to mine.

I quizzically glanced over the gate and saw the new family unloading the big truck with big boxes.

The father noticed me, I can't even remember his name. Was it Kazuhito? Kazune? Err… "Hello, Hinamori-san." I politely greeted him.

He smiled at me "Hello, neighbor! Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?"

I shook my head and noticed his struggle with the box in his arms "Do you need some help?"

The bottom of the box he was holding suddenly ripped open, and loads of books dropped down right before his feet.

Well, I'll take his cheerful laughter as a yes.

"Dad, are you okay? What was that noise?" The brunette dashed out of the house with a worried look. "Oh." She sighed and ran over to help him out. "Seriously, I told you to hold the boxes from the bottom."

Her Dad just laughed while putting the books back in the box "Don't worry, our kind neighbor kindly offered to help us out."

The girl only then noticed my presence, looking up from the ground with a surprised look "Oh. Hitsugaya Toushirou-kun, right?"

I simply nodded and walked in their direction "Let me help."

"Oh, please don't. Dad, don't start bothering the neighbors right on our first day here." She softly scolded her Dad, who just pouted like a little kid.

"It's no bother, really." I insisted and peeked in the truck "It looks like you still have a lot of things here, I'll help, so you can finish early." Before the new girl could protest any more, I grabbed one of the boxes in the truck "Where should I put this?"

The girl gave up with sigh and smiled "Just leave it in the living room."

I just shrugged and walked past my new neighbors, who started bickering about the rest of the boxes that they had to bring in the house.

As I walked in, I saw Mrs. Hinamori preparing some snacks in the kitchen. She kindly smiled at me. "Thank you for your help, Hitsugaya-kun. Sorry for bothering you."

"It's okay. I'm glad to help."

"I'm preparing some snacks, anything you'd like in particular?"

I put the box down next to the couch in the living room "Anything will do, Hinamori-san." Errr… I don't remember her name either.

Five boxes later, we were almost done to completely unload the truck, Hinamori-san (the Mom) got us to take a break and have some snacks she prepared.

"So, what school do you attend to, Hitsugaya-kun?"

I took a bite off the piece of bread with butter and jam "This school-year in Karakura High, Hinamori-san." I couldn't help a chuckle "There aren't many High Schools around here, each village in this island has its own School system."

"Ehh, I guess that's how it goes in small villages." Mr. Dad said with a nod to himself "This is good, I've always wanted to live in a quaint and calm place."

"Is that why you've decided to transfer here, Hinamori-san?" I asked curiously.

"Yep!" He happily answered. "It's good to know that my little princess won't go alone to school."

Kira's beloved crush blushed "Dad, I can go to school on my own."

"I know, but it will make me feel more at ease." Hinamori-san smiled and gave me a pat on my shoulder "We'll be in your care, Hitsugaya-kun. Especially my little princess."

The young brunette shook her head and apologized with a look towards me. I just chuckled at this new silly family; at least, they didn't seem so bad to be city people.

And I should probably stop tagging city people with stereotypical characteristics.

We finished unloading the truck and the family did nothing but thank me all the time.

"Momo-chan, walk Hitsugaya-kun to his home since he's been so kind to us today."

My brows shot up in surprise "There's no need to, Hinamori-san. My house is just next yours…" I seriously need to remember their names, I've been doing nothing but call them all 'Hinamori-san'.

The young brunette took off her apron and smiled "Then it's no trouble since it's so close by, Hitsugaya-kun."

We walked out, the girl left their gate open and silently accompanied me to my front gate, merely a thirty-seconds walk. "Told you there was no need to walk me all the way here."

She laughed "My parents didn't know any other way to repay you for your kindness."

I just nodded "Seriously though, it was no trouble, I'm the one who offered up to help you out."

She suddenly looked up at me with her big brown eyes, the same color of her father's eyes "By the way, just call me Momo."

I was taken aback by her request. Or demand. "Huh?"

"Well, you've been calling my entire family by 'Hinamori-san'. I'm not just 'Hinamori-san', I am Hinamori Momo!" She proudly said with a grin on her features. "So if you're going to call me Momo, I'm going to call you Toushirou, alright?"

I couldn't help but laugh. This girl is so strange.

**oOOOo**

"Say, Momo-chan! How was the city you used to live in?"

"More like, where did you live before coming here?"

"And why did you choose Karakura out of all the other villages in this island?"

"What kind of uniform did you wear?"

The girls pestered Momo with hundreds of questions, of course that 'uniform' question was from that perverted bald guy.

Ikkaku got smacked right on the back of his head by Ichigo, going all out in his brotherly attitude.

Everyone listened enraptured at Momo's tales from the city, her former Middle School, her friends. Kira was hanging onto every word that left Momo's mouth, and he looked so enraptured, so happy to be sitting across from the brunette.

Meanwhile I looked around the oh-so-familiar restaurant we were dining at, full of familiar faces who countlessly kept glancing at our loud table, curious about the new girl.

I was sitting next to her, and the way she flailed her hands and arms in the air as she spoke got me inching away from her, not really fond of the idea to get hit in the face.

Soon the food we ordered got served, and as everyone busied themselves with their dish, Momo discreetly nudged me.

Raising my eyebrow, I silently asked her what got her looking so troubled, and her answer got me laughing like an idiot.

"I can't remember their names." She shyly admitted, while I laughed my ass off.

That got the whole group curious, glancing at me like I was some sort of mad man. "What's so funny?"

I shook my head, absentmindedly waving my hand as I stopped laughing. Momo looked embarrassed, but she hid it by feigning curiosity at my reaction like everyone else.

When everyone turned back to their own business, the brunette frowned at me "Not cool."

"You've been talking with them for almost an hour, and you can't remember their name?" I silently inquired, choking back more laughter that threatened to burst out of me.

She just pouted "I have trouble remembering people's names."

I briefly and silently helped her with remembering everyone's names. Her confusion was a little bit understandable, since we weren't really a small group of people.

Right after her silent thanks, the group resumed their questions for Momo, who gladly answered.

"Oh, Momo-chan. You need to brace yourself, because Karakura doesn't offer as much leisure as big cities do." Rukia warned.

"Don't worry about me, as long as there's a bookstore, a park or beach, and an arcade… then I'm good to go."

I remembered the boxes filled with all sorts of books; I guess she's really into them. "Kira here is also a book worm."

Momo's eyes sparkled "Really, Izuru-kun?" She looked at him with a smile.

Kira blushed ten different shades of red and nodded "Y-yes!"

"The bookstore isn't very up to date, though." I commented "You like English literature, right?" The boxes from earlier had mostly books written by Jane Austen, Dickens, and other English contemporary authors.

"Yep! Do you also like reading books, Toushirou?" Momo asked.

"Nah, Toushirou is a sports type of guy!" Said Renji "All of us guys, except for Ishida and Yumichika, are in the soccer club."

"I'm a girl, you know." Yumichika pointed out, flipping back his hair.

"In a parallel universe, maybe." Ikkaku mumbled, and thus began another bickering between the two.

**oOOOo**

"You and Hinamori-san seem pretty close." Kira said as he watched the girls walk towards the restaurant's bathroom.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise "What makes you say that?"

"Well… you call her by her first name—"

"Everyone's been doing nothing but call her 'Momo'." I pointed out.

"-and she calls you by your first name. And you're not the kind of guy to let someone you barely know call you by your first name immediately or the other way around."

I blinked a couple of times at his remark. Was I actually that kind of person? "Well… she is my new neighbor after all. Is it wrong for me to get along with my neighbors?"

Kira sighed and shook his head "Never mind…"

I rolled my eyes at him "Instead of trying to accuse me of getting too close to her, why don't _you_ do something to get close to her?"

He nearly coughed out the soda he was drinking "Are you out of your mind?"

Answering him with half a shrug, Kira looked down while rubbing the back of his neck, a habit he has when he gets nervous.

"Do you think I have a chance with her?" He asked.

"You'll never know unless you don't give it a shot."

Before we could continue our conversation, the girls got back from their group trip in the toilet.

"Alright guys, time to go." Rangiku commanded with a clap of her hands.

"Awww already?" Whined Ikkaku.

"Momo-chan must be dead tired, we should let her rest." Kira tentatively tried to back the girls up.

"No need to worry about me, I'm doing fine!" Momo assured everyone with a grin.

The discussion went on for a while until it was decided that it was time to go back home for the night.

We pretty much lived in the same neighborhood, only my house was a couple of blocks away from everyone else's.

Everyone bid their goodnights and got in their respective houses, while Momo and I still had to walk a couple of blocks ahead to get home.

She heaved out a long sigh, stretching her arms up in the air with a yawn.

"So you were tired, after all." I commented, remembering her 'I'm doing fine' statement.

She just smiled "I really enjoyed everyone's company, I wouldn't have minded hanging out with all of you a little bit longer."

"You'll have plenty of time to hang out with everyone… To the point where you'll get tired of seeing their faces."

Momo laughed at that and looked up. "Oh wow… The sky is full of stars!"

I glanced up and chuckled "It's the usual night sky…"

"So pretty…" She smiled fondly, walking without looking at what was in front of her. "Back in my old city, I could barely see stars at night. Because of the city light and all that jazz."

She looked like a kid who saw stars for the first time. It kind of amazed me, this innocent and naïve attitude of hers took me aback.

It feels like Momo was made just to be with Kira.

**oOOOo**

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

**So… I'm going to warn you guys by now (for those who don't know), that I don't like stories who rush their plot. Don't expect a super fast story line, but don't expect a super slow one either ahaha.**

**This story will have its own pace, and the progress between the characters can be seen through tiny details like the way they act around each other, the way they call each other, the way they talk to each other and yada yada yada… (example, in this chapter Toushirou at first shows how he doesn't like calling people by their first name when he barely knows them... then he's fine with it when Momo suggests it...) So watch out for these small things (not always there, but they'll be out there often) and if you find them feel free to write them in a review, maybe? xD**

**Errr alright, I dragged this note for too long, I'll stop now ahahah**

**Reviews are much appreciated, write your favorite part or write what you expect will happen :DD**

**Toodles!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi everyone! :D Soooo this chapter turned out to be quite long (sweatdrops) I hope you don't mind!**

**I was planning to split this in two parts, but then I decided to just leave it as it is, because when divided in two parts, this gets too short… Anyways, I also decided to just keep it like this to keep the 'Prologue' within 3 chapters…**

**So, yeah. I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter!**

**Thanks a lot to all of you readers, reviewers and those who added this story to their favorite list **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

**oOOOo**

_She loves hanging out with friends, she loves every season of the year, and she loves hot summer days as much as she loves snowy days. She loves staying home while reading a book when it rains hard outside, and she loves taking walks on Karakura's beach or in a park on a sunny day._

_She hates attending to lessons, she finds them boring, but she's very smart and studies diligently to please her parents._

_She always buys the same brand of orange juice during lunch break, she doesn't like pickles and she loves every type of dessert._

_There's this one guy she never forgets to talk about, her childhood sweetheart, her favorite guy after her father. Aizen Sousuke. They're childhood friends, their families got along very well. I could see a hint of sadness in her eyes whenever she talked about him, although she did her best to hide it with her usual smile._

**Friendship**

"It's so hot."  
"It's so hot!"

Momo and I looked at each other in surprise.

"You like this hot weather?"  
"You don't like this hot weather?"

She started laughing, all the while smacking me on my arm with too much energy. I just shook my head and smiled.

"How can you even stand this kind of weather, it's too hot."

Momo smiled and shrugged "I love warmth. I love the sun." She looked up and let out a deep breath "Summer is my favorite season – standing next to Winter."

That made me curious "How can you like Summer _and _Winter? It sounds so contradictory, it should be either one or the other."

"It should be?" She asked "Who said so?"

I shrugged "I did."

A couple of days have passed since Momo transferred here in Karakura, she's been easily getting along with our group, and surprisingly, with me too.

"Let me guess, then." Said Kira "You also like Autumn and Spring on the same level?"

That got Momo thinking about it, while I hid my surprise at Kira's forwardness to try and get in a conversation with Momo.

A very nice surprise for such an introverted guy.

"I guess I do." Momo finally answered.

I silently snuck away from the two, to let Kira have his shot with the new girl.

Ichigo gave me a pat on the shoulder "You're gonna leave it to that?"

I quizzically furrowed my brow "What do you mean?"

He sardonically smiled while quickly motioning his head in Momo's direction.

Finally understanding what he meant, I rolled my eyes "We're not like that, come on."

"Didn't seem like it earlier." Ichigo snickered under his breath "You two look good together."

I blankly looked ahead, watching my friend looking at Momo with an adoring expression, something I've never seen on his face. "They look better together."

Momo excitedly waved her hands and arms in the air while she was telling some weird story to Kira, I couldn't help but hold back a laugh with a smile when she nearly hit him.

**oOOOo**

"She is…" He dramatically paused "… what a young girl is supposed to be like."

"According to your taste, that is." I added before Kira could begin his endless rantings about Momo.

We sat in my backyard, eating some watermelon under the big tree in the garden.

"She's kind, funny, energetic." He started listing off everything he liked about my neighbor, while I distractedly listened to him, as I gave most of my attention to the book in my hand.

It was refreshing to see him so hyped up over something – more like _someone_. He was usually the type of guy who goes all out to help other people and then slowly retire in his own little world.

I really hope things will go well between him and Momo.

She seemed like a good girl, everything Kira said about her was true, but… There was something more in her. Sure, she was kind, funny, energetic and all the things Kira listed.

But she was also witty, a book worm, so full of contradictions and full of… _life_. I'm not even sure if that's the way I should define her, it's just that I noticed how amazed she was at everything nature could offer.

There's a little thing that gives me an unsettling feeling, though.

It unsettled me how easily we got along, though we barely even knew each other. 'Cause, really, we just met less than a week ago, and it feels like we've been friends since forever.

"I can't wait for school to start."

I looked at Kira with a curious glance "Enlighten me."

"So I get to see Momo-chan with a uniform." He said in a shy tone at first, and slowly turned guilty. "I'm such a perv."

"Yep, you are." I deadpanned. "You're seriously head over heels for her?"

He eagerly nodded.

"But you barely know her!"

An embarrassed smile stretched over his lips "It's crazy, right?"

I just shook my head and chuckled, turning my eyes back to my book after taking a slice of watermelon.

"You two get along very well, too." Kira added after a moment of silence.

Surprised, I glanced at him. Did he notice?

As if reading my mind, he simply answered "It's pretty obvious." He teasingly pointed his eyes at me "Ah, don't tell me… you like her too, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes "She's all yours, for what I care." I leaned back against the big old tree "You know I'm more into feminine girls."

"Hey, she _is _feminine!" He defended her while I just shook my head in amusement.

**oOOOo**

"Oh, you had to take an entrance exam?"

"How did it go?"

Momo looked down at the sheet in her hand "Average, I guess. I didn't study much for this, so I'm pretty satisfied."

Rangiku, being the overly-curious girl that she was, snatched the sheet from the brunette's hands and gaped. "Average? You consider 85 to be an average score?"

"Yaaaaay we found our new tutor!" Rukia cheered while clapping her hands, Orihime just laughed and gave a consoling pat to Momo, as if welcoming her to her 'Tutor Club'.

"Tutor?" Asked the new girl, as she was fidgeting in her new uniform, clearly not used to it yet.

"Yep, don't even ask, Ikkaku, Rangiku and Renji put together barely reach 20/100 points." Ichigo explained with a sigh.

"We usually all study together, but it doesn't seem to work with them." Yumichika flipped his hair back and fluttered his lashes. "The only patient ones who are still willing to help them are Orihime and Kira."

"Hey, don't talk like you guys never ask for their help either." Ikkaku said, sounding slightly offended.

"Never said we didn't ask for any help." Yumichika haughtily explained as he examined his nails.

And cue for their fighting moment.

"Are they always like this?" Momo asked me in a low whisper.

I just nodded "You'll get used to it, don't worry."

She just laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Well, shall we all go ahead and look at the tables to see which classes we're in?"

"Don't even bother, there aren't many people in this village, Momo-chan." Rukia nonchalantly waved her hand in the air "We're all going to be in the same class."

Momo gaped "Really?"

I nudged her on the side "I explained it to you when I helped you unload the truck."

She looked at me in an extremely confused and lost look on her face "You did?"

I couldn't help but hold back my laughter at her expression, while she just frowned at me. "I forgot how bad was your memory."

"Gee, thanks." Momo just smiled and smacked me hard on my shoulder. "Seriously, though. This is so anti-climactic. So there is no doki-doki feeling while thinking 'Ahhh I hope I'll be in the same class as my friends or crush'?"

"Nope." Answered Rukia "But if you want to, just for poops and giggles, we can go and check them – more like, it – out anyway."

Momo nodded "Might as well… you guys already know the school grounds?"

We started walking towards the school once we were done hanging out by a nearby park.

"Yeah, this school has everything, starting from Kindergarten to High School. We've attended in this school since the beginning." Orihime explained.

"The school ground is pretty big, but it's normal considering all the school institutions involved in here." Added Ishida.

"Shut up, Ishida. Don't start getting our head bloated by saying that our school is big, when Momo-chan's old school is probably double the size of ours." Renji antagonized, and started bickering with Ishida like Ikkaku and Yumichika.

"Here's the main bill board of this school." Rukia gaily pointed it out "Important announces are mostly put here, but there are also smaller bill boards inside the building."

Momo nodded as she looked at the list of High School freshmen. "So few…" She mumbled while scanning the list.

**oOOOo**

"I'm Hinamori Momo, 16 years old, from Seireitei. I just transferred here in Karakura last week, please take care of me."

My overly familiar looking classmates curiously looked at Momo as she walked back to her seat next to Orihime, in the back.

Whispers and mumbles took over the classroom until our teacher slammed his hand on his desk to silence everyone. Looks like Kyoraku sensei woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. "No time to waste, people. Get your textbooks and let's begin our lesson."

I glanced back and saw Momo already lost in her thoughts, looking out of the big windows.

**oOOOo**

"What is that?" Momo asked with a curious glance at Orihime's bentou box.

"Oh, just some fried hot dogs with peanut butter and cheese!"

Ikkaku gagged on the side, as Yumichika just comfortingly rubbed his back. Renji blanched and Rangiku started bouncing on her seat "Can I have some, Orihime?"

"Sure!"

Momo searched for any reaction from me, but I just shook my head and ate my food. "Is that all you're going to eat?"

I glanced down at the sandwich I bought at the canteen "Yeah."

"Don't mind him, Momo-chan. He really likes sandwiches." Kira intervened. "He has three more over there."

Momo nodded "I know, but it's not healthy. Is that what you always eat at lunch?"

I shrugged "The sandwiches they sell at the canteen are very good. It's not such a big deal."

Mom is always busy for work, she has to travel all the way to the nearby town, so she's very tired when she gets home. It's not like I don't want to eat a bentou box, but I'd rather let my Mom rest when she has free time than make her make me a bentou box.

So I don't really mind eating sandwiches for lunch.

Momo's eyes lingered on me for a while longer, then she turned back to the rest of the group and shared her thoughts so far about our school.

I noticed how Kira gave his entire attention to the brunette, and I couldn't help but feel amused at the sight. Momo energetically shared more tales from her former city, as she ate her two-layered bentou box. Kira's own bentou box looked puny compared to hers, and it was kind of funny.

A guy going out with a girl who ate more than him.

"The thing I really like about you guys…" Momo smiled "… is that you don't always have your faces shoved in your cell phones."

Everyone looked at each other in curiosity. "Why should we?" Asked Rukia "There's nothing much in our phones, anyway." She got her phone from her pocket and handed it to Momo.

"Oh, flip phones!" Momo shouted happily, holding Rukia's phone like it was some sort of rare treasure. "I always wanted to get one too, but everyone in Seireitei has these super technological touch-screen phones with apps to communicate with each other…" She inspected the pink rabbit design on Rukia's phone "This is so cute."

"I know, right?! That's Chappy the Rabbit! He is a— "

Before Rukia could begin to rant about her beloved favorite cartoon character, Ichigo shoved an onigiri in her mouth, making her stop and everyone else laugh.

"Trust me, Momo. You don't wanna hear that." Said Ichigo with a very serious look, ignoring the punches Rukia was throwing at him as she asked for more onigiris.

Momo was clicking some buttons on Rukia's phone "Oh, you can install applications in this phone. What phones do the rest of you have?"

"We pretty much have the same type of phone." Ishida said, glancing around as everyone whipped their phone out.

"Hmm…" Momo continued her inspection on the phone.

"M-Momo-chan?" Kira started nervously.

Momo just hummed questioningly, still focused on the phone in her hand.

"C-c—can I…" Kira stuttered, while I swiftly smacked Renji in the face, noticing his stifled laughter "Can we exchange e-mails?!"

"E-mails? You guys still use e-mails to chat?" The brunette said in disbelief, either ignoring or just unaware of Kira's meaning behind his invitation "There's this app you can download… here it is!" She showed everyone something on Rukia's screen "Where you can chat with people, even in groups. It was very popular in Seireitei."

I mentally gave a pat on Kira's shoulder, wishing that he won't get discouraged by this.

"Oh, don't worry Kira-kun, I'll exchange mails and numbers with everyone later."

Before Ikkaku and Renji could shout 'FRIENDZONED' with all their might, Ichigo and I stuffed their mouth with food.

**oOOOo**

"Don't be such a killjoy, Toushirou!" Momo's been pestering me ever since we got out of school "It's free! And you get to chat with us whenever you feel like it!"

I ignored the whack of her hands against my back and shoulders "I'm not interested in stuff like that. If I ever need to talk with anyone, which is very improbable, I can just call someone on the phone."

"Leave him be, Momo-chan. He's always like that." Chided Ishida while the others laughed.

She didn't give up. "Alright, fine. But, say for example that we all suddenly decided to go out and hang around town, and the only place we've talked about it is in this app. You'd be the only one left home!"

"He hates going out, anyway." Kira explained while laughing.

Momo pouted like a kid "Ughhh, can someone tell me how to convince him?!"

Everyone just laughed at her persistence.

**oOOOo**

"… Do you think I even have a chance with her?"

I looked at Kira in surprise, who laid down on the green grass of my backyard, enjoying the sun.

"I mean… I feel like I've already been thrown down the friendzone."

_Probably_… Ignoring that last thought, I tried to encourage him. "Maybe she's slow when it comes to these things."

"You think so?" He looked at me hopefully.

I shrugged "I don't know. Maybe you just have to be more forward?"

Kira buried his face in his hands "Noooo, you know I'm too shy to do that."

Laughing, I leaned back against the big trunk of the tree "Well then, are you planning to make her take the first move? Are you a girl?"

He glared at me briefly. "… Should I just be direct and tell her that I like her?"

"Do you want to be with her?"

A breeze blew past us, making the short green grass shake.

Kira looked up at the sky, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"I guess… I guess I do." He sat up straight and looked desperate "There's just something about her, Toushirou. I don't know what it is, I just really like her."

I worriedly looked at him. "You've got it bad, dude."

Kira started ripping some long strands of grass he found. "Yeah… pretty bad." He smiled fondly, glancing at the house that stood next to mine. "You're so lucky to be living next to her."

"Let's exchange houses, then." I jokingly suggested, making my best friend laugh, though I could see a wishful glint in his eyes.

"Kira-kun! Toushirou!"

We turned our heads to see Momo waving at us from a window upstairs in her house.

Kira fretfully sat up straight and waved back with a smile.

I just waved briefly and she quickly disappeared back inside her house.

As quickly as she disappeared, she re-appeared in her own backyard, peeking over the fence. "Hi guys!"

Kira made his way towards her, while I stayed back, reading my book to give them some privacy.

**oOOOo**

Days flew by in a breeze, it was starting to get colder.

Momo and I became incredibly good friends – as annoying as she may be some times.

I had the chance to know her better, and some things that others probably didn't know, I relied them to Kira to help him in his quest to conquer her.

She loves hanging out with friends, she loves every season of the year, and she loves hot summer days as much as she loves snowy days. She loves staying home while reading a book when it rains hard outside, and she loves taking walks on Karakura's beach or in a park on a sunny day.

She hates attending to lessons, she finds them boring, but she's very smart and studies diligently to please her parents.

She always buys the same brand of orange juice during lunch break, she doesn't like pickles and she loves every type of dessert.

There's this one guy she never forgets to talk about, her childhood sweetheart, her favorite guy after her father. Aizen Sousuke. They're childhood friends, their families got along very well. I could see a hint of sadness in her eyes whenever she talked about him, although she did her best to hide it with her usual smile.

I thought that this Sousuke guy might turn out to be a hinder for Kira, but she told me that they haven't been much in contact in the past couple of years. So he shouldn't be a problem.

Momo was such an interesting person, she was so open with everyone, but at the same time she seemed to hide some secrets behind that cheerful smile of hers. It made me want to know more about her.

And, somehow, ever since she got here time seems to rush by in a blur. Or was I simply going mad?

October was just around the corner, Momo's been here in Karakura for around two months now.

The leaves on the trees were turning different shades of warm colors, the temperature was gradually dropping day by day.

I sat at the usual café the group hangs out at, sipping my cup of coffee. Of course, leave it to my friends to come more than ten minutes late.

It's Saturday morning (10 am), the girls wanted to take Momo around town since everyone always had something to do over the weekend.

I lazily leaned back in my seat, looking out of the window, in a daze as the leaves slowly dropped on the ground.

I hope it snows a lot this year.

"Hi." I looked up to see Momo looming over me with a grin.

I smiled and watched her take a seat in front of me. "Ah, finally someone shows up."

She stuck her tongue out "Everyone sent a message on Line, the app you refuse to download." I rolled my eyes. "Everyone said they'd be late, so we all decided to move the meeting time by thirty minutes forward."

"How come no one informed me about it?" I asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I thought Kira would inform you."

I reached for my phone to check if I received any message or mail. "Well, apparently he didn't."

Momo laughed and sat on the seat in front of me. "Serves you right."

"Gee, thanks." I shook my head, waiting for Momo to order her usual glass of orange juice and her beloved chocolate Belgian waffle. "How weird, though… Why didn't he tell me?" I asked to myself, and concluded that he was probably too busy looking for something decent to wear.

Ugh, I think I know that guy too well.

"What are you doing here so early, then?" I asked.

"Hmm…" She thoughtfully looked up, tapping her chin "Because I knew you were going to come punctually. I came here out of _pity_."

I burst out in laughter "How thoughtful of you."

Momo smiled and looked out at the sky. "Thank God it's sunny today."

"If it starts raining, I'm going back home." I grumbled sipping at my coffee.

Momo laughed "Oh hush, you can't leave when the whole group has been waiting so long for a day where everyone is available."

"I know…" I smiled remembering how the entire group meticulously checked everyone's agenda to find a date when we could all hang out together. They could be silly sometimes, but they really cared about the friendship we've all had since our elementary days.

I could see from the corner of my eye that Momo was smiling too "You really care about them, hm?"

I wiped my smile off my face and shrugged, though I knew she already discovered me.

"So… don't you think it's time for you to join us on Line?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Laughing, I shook my head. "Nope. Dream on."

We idly chatted a while longer, though the one mostly doing the talking was her, and I just listened to her stories.

Then I saw Kira, standing just outside the coffee shop, looking at me and Momo with a blank expression on his face.

"Look, Kira." I told Momo, interrupting her in the midst of her sentence. She quickly turned around, watching Kira walk in the shop.

She happily greeted him and scooted give him space to sit in.

Kira quietly greeted us, while Momo continued her rambles about this new book she bought the other day on internet.

I noticed Kira's unusual silence; this wasn't his 'embarrassed silence', this was different.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him silently.

He just nodded and listened intently to every word Momo spoke out.

Soon enough, the rest of the group finally reached us.

**oOOOo**

After walking around town, we decided to go and have lunch at one of the few restaurants in town.

On our way there, Kira and I stood in the farthest back of the group, walking to match everyone's pace while everyone happily chatted and planned what to do in the afternoon.

Kira's weird mood unsettled me; usually I'm the moody one, seeing him like this was so strange for me. So I decided to mirror what he usually did whenever I was in that kind of mood. "Is everything okay?"

Kira side-glanced at me and looked back ahead. "Of course."

"Doesn't seem like it," I insisted "Tell me, come on. Maybe I can help you out."

He furrowed his brows, looking down on the hard ground "It's nothing important."

"It can't be if it's bothering you so much."

Kira turned to look at me with a sad smile "It's going to sound ridiculous."

I challenged him with a look.

"I… I just see how close you and Momo-chan are and I…" He paused for a moment "I feel so stupid, thinking things like 'What if she likes him?' or 'What if he likes her?'."

A stabbing feeling hit me in my chest. I ignored it "What are you saying?" I said with a laugh, smacking him on his shoulder. "I thought I told you that she's into this Aizen guy from Seireitei!"

"I know," Kira looked at me "But… what about you?"

I was shocked at his question "What makes you think that I like her? I told you, I like very feminine girls. She's not my type; she makes a great friend, though." I explained clearly.

Kira let out a breath in relief "Okay, I just really needed to hear it from you." He smiled, turning back to his usual self.

"If that was it, you know you could've just asked me."

"Yeah, but…" He laughed at himself "I was just being stupid. I assumed that you liked her because I see how you are when you're with her."

"How?" I asked in disbelief. Well, I do enjoy her company, but… what kind of impression did I give away?

"Hn," He hummed in agreement "You laugh more openly now, you seem more… happy." He repeated.

I shook my head "Looks like her hyper character rubbed off on me." I tried to explain more to myself than to him.

Kira agreed "Yeah… she has a strong character, doesn't she?"

Time felt like it came to halt for a moment, then resumed in a snail-like pace.

Wordless, I just nodded.

And so, the day dragged along; I wasn't paying attention to anything anymore. Not like it mattered, since I already know this town like the back of my hand.

Kira's words were lingering in my mind.

Did my friendship with Momo bother him so much? His weird attitude from earlier and his perplexed expression flashed in the back of my head.

Kira is just like a brother to me, I owe him a lot; when I was small, I used to be a loner. It's not like I didn't want to make friends, but the kids seemed to be scared of me. Kira was the only kid willing to play with me back then.

I like being alone, but I hate being lonely.

The reason that I have so many friends who care about me and who I care about now is because of him.

Along the years, I've been always the spoiled brat between the two of us, and he was always happy to share or give me what I wanted. The last slice of a cake, the last piece of sandwich, the last toy in the shop, the last soccer ball available in kindergarten, the last shirt in the shop, the last copy of a book at the bookstore. Of course, I did my best to share these small things with him.

He's done nothing but help me and his friends around wholeheartedly, never asking for anything in return.

Glancing forward, I saw Kira cheerfully chatting with Momo.

Now that he's finally found something – _someone_ – he likes, I set my mind from the start to help him out in every possible way.

I thought that by getting along with her and maybe gain some information about her to help him would make him happy.

But after seeing his troubled expression for my friendship with Momo, I already know what to do next.

Momo turned to look at me with a bright smile "Stop being a loner and join us, Toushirou!"

I couldn't help but smile at her energetic character. "What do you want?" I said in a mocking tone.

"I want you to just download Line, so that you won't have to wait for everyone like you did earlier." She teased.

I was about to counter her teasing tone, but when I saw the faltering look on Kira's face, I refrained myself.

I know what needs to be done. I have to choose between my friendship with Kira and my friendship with Momo.

"Alright." I said. "I'll download it."

Momo broke out into a cheerful squeal, smacking me on my arm – a usual habit she did whenever she was overly happy or excited about something. Then she turned to look at Ichigo and the others "See?! I managed to convince him!"

"Right, after two months, you finally did it." The guys deadpanned, but Momo didn't care and twirled around in her white dress and denim jacket.

_This will be the first and last thing I'll concede to Momo._

_From now on, I'll put a distance between us._

**oOOOo**

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

**As I was saying earlier, this is the end of the Prologue, so the real deal starts in the next coming chapters :D Stay tuned!**

**Reviews are much loved and appreciated, cookies for y'all **** And write your uh.. favorite part, I guess, since this has been such a long chapter ****)**

**Toodles!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello everyone! :D Here's chapter 4 of His Best Friend's Crush!**

**I'm really glad to see from your reviews that you guys like this story so far! Thanks for the kind reviews and messages and for adding this story to your fav list! Love y'all **

**I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

**oOOOo**

_Seconds, minutes, hours._

_Days, weeks, months._

_Seasons, years._

_Leaves fell, snow came, cherry blossoms bloomed, the hot summer passed by._

_And now, we're nearly at the end of our senior year._

**Seniors**

Kira happily slapped my shoulder, watching the girls chat happily. "Is it possible for such a pretty girl to turn even more pretty?"

I rolled my eyes, without bothering to look over the noisy group "Just go out with her, already." I didn't even need to look at him to know that he was blushing in embarrassment.

"No! No, no, no… I already confessed, but she rejected me, remember?"

My brain flashed the memory of Kira becoming a zombie before my very eyes when Momo rejected him.

"Twice." He added.

Of course, he nearly turned into a full-fledged zombie twice. "Third time's a charm."

Kira nearly jumped "You think so?!"

Sighing, I just shook my head. "Why don't you just go and find another girl?"

"Oh don't be like that, Toushirou… maybe she changed her mind," He gazed at the brunette sitting in the middle of the group of girls "It's common, right? That girls often change their minds…"

'_Momo's not like the other girls…'_

"But Momo-chan's not like the other girls…"

I blinked in surprise and looked at my best friend. Did I say my thoughts out loud?

Kira sighed like some sick guy in love. Oh okay, so he said it. "I just can't get her out of my head!" He dramatically threw his arms in the air "Like… There's a reason why I've fallen for her, right?"

Turning my gaze back to the book on my desk, I explained "Of course, she's your ideal type, why wouldn't you fall for her?"

"No! I don't mean it that way… like… there's a reason why I just can't give up on her, right? Right?"

I quickly side glanced at him "You'll get nothing by asking confirmation to me. Just go and ask her out again. Tell her to let you have a shot and try out to see if things might actually work out."

I know that urging him to make a move, after two rejections, was probably useless. But seeing him still so crazy about her makes me want to just push him to her, to get his dreamy and disgustingly romantic speeches about her to stop.

When Momo first got here in Karakura, I was willing to help Kira to make his moves on her. But when he told me that my closeness with her bothered him, I immediately distanced myself from Momo, although she was someone who would have probably turned out to be a great friend for me.

But that's in the past. Now, Momo and I can barely be called friends. We're both part of the same circle of friends, but we rarely talk to each other unlike before.

…At least, _I_ rarely talk to her. She's her usual happy self who talks to everyone; hence her big popularity in our small village and here at school.

Anyway, now I can't really help Kira since I have no idea what Momo would like to receive or would expect from her ideal guy.

So it's all up to Kira now. And the rest of the gang, since pretty much everyone knows that he still has feelings for her.

Everyone except for her, apparently.

I tried to imagine Momo and Kira in a romantic relationship. What would it be like? Would Kira take the lead? He's too lenient, too passive to take the lead. So was Momo going to be the man in the relationship? Was she going to be the type of girlfriend who just ordered her boyfriend around because she's just too lazy?

I held back a laughter behind a smile. That image is too funny.

Thank goodness Kira didn't notice, since he's too busy ranting on about ways to capture Momo's heart.

In the couple of years that passed by, I didn't get the chance to know Momo too well. I knew some things about her, things that I learned back when we got along, and things that I learned in the past few years through the days spent together with the group.

And she didn't change one bit since she first stepped here in Karakura.

Momo is part of the Archery Club, she's part of the Top 5 students and she's often called by the Student Council, asking for her help. She's pretty active.

As for her parents, they opened their own Patisserie, and she helps out in their shop every weekend.

"… So, what do you think?"

My train of thoughts came to a halt when Kira brought me back down to earth. "About what?"

He shrugged "Should I confess one last time on her birthday? Or on our graduation day?"

"Don't you think that's too cliché?" Okay, so I might not know Momo as well as the others do, but I know at the very least that she's not very fond of cliché things.

Her birthday… When was it, again?

"It's on June 3rd." Said Kira, as if reading my mind. "Just a couple of months away."

I shrugged "I think you should go for something more… er… original?" I tried to find the right words. "But this is just my opinion. In the end, the choice is still yours."

Right on cue, our teacher walked in and everyone scurried back to their seats.

**oOOOo**

The group buzzed about this weekend's (which is tomorrow) slumber party at Rangiku's house. Her parents are going to another village for an onsen trip, explaining how stressed they were from work.

So Rangiku, being Rangiku, immediately organized this slumber party of hers.

Everyone took up a task for their own, like bringing snacks, food, sweets, drinks and all of that stuff.

I didn't particularly care, I just ate my sandwich and looked at the clear sky in the horizon.

"Hey, Momo-chan's birthday is coming up!"

How did the conversation go from the slumber party to Momo's birthday?

Momo laughed and waved her hands dismissively. "It's still a couple of months away."

"Yeah, but remember that this is your 18th birthday!" Rukia said excitedly. "Are you going to throw a big party?"

"Maybe one of those super glam classy and elegant parties?" Added Rangiku.

"With lots and lots of food?" Orihime tuned in.

The guys laughed at the girls' enthusiasm along with Momo. "I don't know, yet. Are you implying that I should celebrate my 18th birthday following Karakura's customs?"

The other three nodded excitedly, and Yumichika quickly joined them too.

"I'm not sure if I can plan such a grand party in just two months." Momo twirled a lock of her hair around her finger.

"We'll help! So first, you'll need a very big venue to accommodate all of your guests!" Rukia and Rangiku immediately began the list of things that they will need to organize Momo's birthday party.

Rolling my eyes, I finished off my sandwich and opened my can of green tea, not bothering to listen to their heated discussions.

But their voices were too loud to be ignored "Then you'll need an escort!"

"Escort?" Momo echoed with a confused tone.

"Yes! A guy who will accompany you throughout the whole party! A knight in shining armor!" Rukia sighed dreamily, clasping her hands together dramatically.

"And he will be your last dance, of course," Rangiku's lips stretched into a sly grin "Oh the look on your face tells me that you already have someone in mind for this role."

I curiously glanced at Kira, who turned to look at Momo, then I looked at the said person, who was blushing madly while slapping Rangiku on her arm all the while laughing and trying to cover her face.

Girls are just so weird.

"Oooh, is it that Sousuke guy?" Rukia asked, clearly intrigued to hear news about Momo's love life.

I could literally see Kira's hopes slowly crumble. Hearing this conversation about Aizen Sousuke was probably not good for him.

Thank goodness the bell rang on time.

**oOOOo**

The next day I lazily took my time to enjoy my solitude at home.

Mom and Dad also left for a leisure trip, they'll be back tomorrow night. They tried to drag me along with them, but I just didn't feel like going.

So I quickly cleaned up the house (which, thankfully, didn't need much fixing up), did my homework and re-read the notes I took in class in the past week, then lazed around in the living room.

After my short movie marathon of Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, I headed out to my backyard to get some fresh air, when I suddenly noticed Momo sitting at the tire they hung on their tree and turned into a swing.

She smiled when she saw me and walked towards the fence that divided my backyard from hers. "Howdy, neighbor!"

I just nodded and sat on the grass, just near the door that lead back in my house, opening the book I brought with me.

Momo was still there. "What time are you going to go at Ran's?"

Shrugging, I continued to look down at my book "I don't know. Later, maybe."

"Oh." She said, suddenly sounding like she was taken aback "Shall we go together?" Her voice turned back to her cheerful self.

"No." I immediately replied "I'm going over there very late."

"Why?"

"Because I still have lots of things to do." I preparedly answered.

"I can help you out, so you can finish early?" She offered, but I didn't budge.

"No, it's okay." I closed my book and got up, heading back in the house. "I'll see you later."

Without waiting for a reply from her, I shut the door behind me.

Making my way in the living room, I decided to just watch more movies and laze around the house.

Before I could even notice it, my head kept turning back towards the backyard, my mind wondering if Momo was still there.

Was I too harsh on her? Should I have just complied to her offer?

The truth is that I'm pretty much done with all the things I had to do at home. I just wanted to avoid on going together at Rangiku's house, because I don't want Kira to have strange ideas about me and Momo.

I sighed and stared up at the ceiling as I laid down on the couch. In the past couple of years, since Momo came along and since Kira admitted the uncomfortable feelings he felt when he saw us being close, I've been keeping a safe distance between me and Momo.

A distance so safe that kept me so far from her, no matter how hard she tried to strike a friendly conversation with me (as she usually did with everyone else).

So far that we can barely be called friends anymore.

_Is this even right?_ I used to ask myself, and I still do it sometimes.

_Of course it's right._ I then usually answer to my stupid question.

Because friendship comes first.

Though, I have to admit that, sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Momo and I could have become friends. It's that little thing that always bugs me in the back of my mind, because she and I got along so well. We hit it off right off the bat.

And that has never happened to me with anyone else but her.

Well, I don't really care now.

What matters, now that Kira has found someone he truly wants, is for him to have his chance and get paid back for all of the kindness he's shown everyone.

**oOOOo**

I woke up with a startle, hearing loud knocks on my door.

Glancing at my wrist watch, I groaned and quickly slid off the couch. It was 7 pm, I still had to get ready to go to Rangiku's house.

I strode towards the door and found Momo standing there, with a big shoulder bag and a bright grin on her face. "Hullo!"

"What?" I grumbled while rubbing my sleepy eyes.

"I came to help you with your house chores so that we can go to Ran's together!"

"I thought I told you to go there first…" I yawned "I still need to take a shower and pack a change of clothes. I'll see you later."

Momo quickly slipped her feet between the door and the doorway. "I'll wait for you!"

Okay, so I might not know her well enough, but her insistence tonight is very suspicious. "What do you need?"

She nervously laughed, smacking my arm. "I need a tip from your expert brain."

Rolling my eyes, I let her get in my house. "Make yourself at home, I'll just go up and prepare."

Momo visibly shone in happiness and nodded eagerly, running off in the kitchen. On my way to the bathroom, I could hear the fridge door opening in the kitchen. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Making myself at home!"

After a quick shower, I packed my toothbrush, clothes and some snacks in my bag.

I then found Momo in the kitchen, eating a slice of cake. "Where did you get that?" I asked.

She guiltily smiled and held up a box which clearly came from her parents' patisserie "I wanted to bring cakes at Ran's, but uh…" I snorted. "It smelt so good, it was literally screaming and pleading me to eat some- Stop laughing!"

I was holding my sides, which hurt from too much laughter. This girl, seriously. "What the hell are you? A dog who can't resist food?"

That was another thing I've learned in these years. She was an incredible food lover. "HEY!" She said indignantly but smiled in defeat. "Come on, let's get going. They're already waiting for us."

**oOOOo**

On our way to Rangiku's house, which was a ten minute walk from our houses, Momo hesitantly started up the argument she needed a tip for. "So… I'm organizing my birthday party… And uh—I need an escort."

I nodded for her to continue.

"But I have no idea how to ask Sousuke-kun – remember him? Aizen Sousuke! – because I'm too shy to ask him!"

I raised my eyebrow and looked down at her. "So… you're asking me how to ask a guy to become your escort?"

She nodded bashfully.

I shrugged "Just ask him."

Momo gasped dramatically and smacked my arm "No no no no no no! No! There is no such thing as 'Just ask him' with him! I can't do it!" She screamed while hiding her face in her hands. "When it comes to him, I get so shy!"

"So out of character." I mumbled loud enough for her to hear me and smack me in the arm.

"Oh come on, there has to be a – uh, special way to ask him!" She tried to find the right words "Like… a way to ask him so that he can say nothing but _yes_!"

I chuckled "I don't know. You're asking the wrong guy."

"No, I'm not! You're the right guy, you're brilliant! That's why I'm asking _you_!" Momo desperately turned to look at me. "Come on, Toushirou—what should I do?"

Rolling my eyes at her drama scene, I repeated. "I think that you should just simply ask him 'Hey, do you want to be my escort?' That will do the magic."

She pouted like a little kid. "You really think so?"

I shrugged "I don't know—OW! Your smacks are getting worse every year."

Momo blankly looked at me for a moment, then gave in. "Fine. I'll do it that way."

"Good." I said.

"But if it won't work, then it's your fault."

"What?" She strode and walked ahead of me. "That's bullshit." I said, catching up to her.

Momo just laughed, and silence fell.

Until I broke it. "Why don't you ask Kira to become your escort?" I may not be able to directly help him, but this might be a little push to let them be together.

A smile broke on Momo's face. "Because I don't like him."

Ouch. Sorry, Kira. I tried. "Why not? I mean, he's kind, he's smart."

Momo vaguely waved her hand in the air "Yeah, then what?"

My lips thinned into a line. "He's fun?"

She laughed "That sounded more like a question!" She gave me a quick side-glance, then looked up at the sky "I don't think he likes me."

It was my turn to laugh. "Trust me, he does. He loves you."

Momo just pursed her lips into a small smile. "I'll tell you what I really think about this… so maybe he can fully understand why I've rejected him in the past, if a time ever comes when he should think about it." _He thinks about it. All the time._ I held back my thoughts while she continued "Kira-kun is, no doubt, a very kind and smart person. And he's a hopeless romantic too…"

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she kept on walking "Kira-kun isn't really in love with me. He's just in love with the idea of being in love."

She twirled to a stop and looked up at the house in front of her. "Here we are."

I watched her walk in Rangiku's house, while I stayed back before deciding to follow her in.

**oOOOo**

**A/N: I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter ****)**

**Please do leave a review and tell me err your favorite part, I guess? Or what you think is going to happen in the next chapter, at the slumber party :D Or if you noticed the small changes in Toushirou's attitude when he's around Momo? Or is it too soon for that to be noticed? Oh well ahah!**

**Toodles! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello everyone! Here's chapter 5 of His best friend's crush :D**

**Big thanks to all those who reviewed and added this story on their fav list :)**

**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

**oOOOo**

"_What is it that makes him so perfect in your eyes?"_

"_I… Does there really have to be a reason to like someone?"_

_I carefully thought about her question for a moment before answering. "I guess not… but surely there are some decisive factors that make you fall for someone, right?"_

**Slumber Party**

The TV flashed in time with the music of the horror movie.

I dozed off, blankly staring at the screen while I was lost in my thoughts. Even Ikkaku's girly screams sounded far away.

We were all full stomached, courtesy of Ikkaku and Ishida, and we were lazily spread out in the living room, in the middle of our traditional 'Horror Movie Marathon'.

"_Kira-kun isn't really in love with me. He's just in love with the idea of being in love."_

What do these words mean? And what does she mean with these words?

I've been the main witness to Kira's sentimental side towards Momo. And, damn, the last thing he'd be in love with is merely the idea of being in love. I saw him trip over his own feet just to catch her attention. I saw him muster up his courage before he began a conversation with her, or before sending her a text. I saw him get depressed over the first rejection. And I saw him crushed on the second rejection.

Also, I'm pretty sure that everyone else in our group noticed the poor guy's efforts.

So I have two theories. It's either that Momo has a very low self-esteem and believes that no one could ever fall for her, or she's just dense when it comes to these kind of things.

I hid a smile behind my hand. This is such an ironically cliché situation for someone who's not fond of cliché things.

"Toushirou," Whispered Renji, making me snap out of my daze. "Everyone's already asleep. Ikkaku, Ishida and I are going to sleep in Ran's bedroom."

I just nodded as they silently walked by Rukia and Ichigo, who were sleeping on the mattress on the floor.

Only then did I notice that everyone was already asleep. The movie wasn't over yet, but that's how things usually run in our slumber parties. Ahem, 'parties'. If party means happily eating dinner with friends then turn into lazy bums, run a horror movie marathon as everyone, one by one, falls asleep… then this is one hell of a party.

Glancing behind me, I saw Momo curled up in a ball and Kira rigidly laying behind her, but he was asleep. I held back my urge to laugh, even when he's asleep he gets nervous just by being next to her. What held me back from laughing was the irritation at these two for squeezing in with me in my usual sleeping spot on the L-shaped couch.

Momo and I even argued for this spot earlier, but whatever. This spot perfectly fit two people, but… Kira wanted to sleep next to her, and I got too heated up in the argument earlier to give up my spot.  
So the three of us squeezed in together on the short side of the L, since Yumichika and Rangiku were comfortably laying on the entire long side of the couch.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. 2 am.

Alright, I still got some time to sleep before we all have to get up and clean up the house before Rangiku's parents come back home.

After minutes or hours (I have no idea how long it has been) of tossing and turning, I gave up on sleeping and sat up. Rangiku, Yumichika and Rukia snored with all their might; how the hell did Ichigo manage to sleep next to Rukia? He even looked so peaceful in his sleep.

Narrowing my eyes, I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be earbuds in his ears. _Go figure… _I silently chuckled and got up from the couch. Might as well leave my spot to Kira and Momo, I felt like the third wheel there, anyway. I glanced at the two; Momo was still curled up, but she quickly invaded the empty space I left, hugging her pillow tightly, while Kira was still in his rigid pose.

I grabbed my sweater and headed out in the backyard and sat on the wooden quaint bench. It's already spring, but nights and mornings are still very cold here. I looked out in the horizon, making out the outlines of Karakura Beach.

Damn Kira and Momo for depriving me of sleep. I leaned back in my seat, once again lost in my thoughts.

It seems like Kira is really decided on confessing for the third time to Momo; I guess this time I should help him. His first two independent attempts didn't go well, maybe with a little bit of help, he might make it.

The point is, I know nearly nothing about Momo's expectations in a guy. All I know is that she likes Aizen Sousuke, so I guess that's where I should start.

Who is this guy, and what's so special about him? Squeezing faded memories from my brain, the few things I remembered from Momo's tales about this guy were these: he's kind; he's handsome; he's smart.

I furrowed my eyebrows and crossed my arms across my chest. Kira has these very same traits. Why can't she like him, then? Plus, he's a hopeless romantic. Isn't that what girls dig into?

"_He's just in love with the idea of being in love."_ Ah. Don't tell me that it's exactly Kira's hopeless romantic side that drove her away?

Or maybe she's just too shy to admit her feelings towards Kira now, after rejecting him twice?

Ugh, no, it doesn't make any sense.

Sighing in defeat, I looked up at the sky as the sea of stars twinkled brightly. I'm just going around in circles here, I'm sleep deprived, I know nearly nothing about Momo, and I'm not even sure if Kira's going to accept my help.

"Can't sleep?" I almost jumped out of my seat at the feminine voice, soon followed by a light laughter.

"Jeez, don't scare me like that, Momo." I put a hand over my chest to calm down my startled heart.

She just laughed and handed me a cup of coffee as she sat next to me. "Here you go."

Grumbling out an incoherent, I took a sip of the coffee, welcoming the warmth in my body. "Why are you up?"

The brunette shrugged, sipping at her own warm drink, probably tea. "Can't sleep."

'_You left Kira all alone, go back and sleep next to him!' _I wanted to tell her, but then I refrained myself. "It probably can't be helped, with that snoring trio."

"Did you see Ichigo's earbuds?" She asked, laughing.

It was my turn to laugh "Explains how he can sleep so peacefully next to Rukia."

Silence fell between us, and it gave me the moment to realize that I haven't talked with Momo like this in the past years.

Looking down at my cup of coffee, I also realized that it was prepared the way I usually like. Glancing at her, I motioned at my cup "Thanks. For the coffee."

Her lips curled up in a smile "Lukewarm water and only a tablespoon of sugar."

"You and your crazy memory…" I said, amused. "Though you have a hard time remembering names."

She burst out in laughter, smacking my arm in her usual manner. "Shut up! Nobody's perfect!" A dreamy sigh escaped her lips. "Except for Sousuke-kun, of course."

"Ah… again with this Aizen Sousuke." I said in a mocking nostalgic voice, earning a sucker punch in my arm. This is actually the perfect chance to find answers to my questions. "What is it that makes him so perfect in your eyes?"

"Well… get ready for the long list." She teased. "He's kind. He's smart. He's handsome. He's a great basketball player… He's funny, he's witty!"

"Sounds like a normal guy, to me." I deadpanned. I seriously

"Not to me." Momo looked off into the distance, a smile playing on her lips. "I… Does there really have to be a reason to like someone?"

I carefully thought about her question for a moment before answering. "I guess not… but surely there are some decisive factors that make you fall for someone, right?"

She side-glanced at me. "Right…" Then, she looked down at her lap. "I mean… I don't know. We've been friends since childhood, we were always together, and our parents loved teasing us by always pairing us as a couple. Maybe that's what started it. It made me start wondering what having a partner would be like… How many kids I would have with Sousuke-kun in the future…" She added jokingly.

I broke out in laughter "Well, that escalated quickly!"

Momo laughed along and resumed her tale. "Seriously, though. I really like him." A smile, so different from the one she usually displayed, lit up her whole face. "And I miss him. We haven't met since I got here and we just chat on holidays." Oh, that explains her excessive hyper attitude during the holidays. "That's why I have no idea how to approach him now, after not seeing him in so long… How do I do that?" She looked at me with a concerned look. "How do I ask him to become my escort out of the blue?"

"Who knows, maybe he'll say yes." I tried to console her.

"I really hope so." I couldn't help but turn to look at her, surprised by the earnest and honest feelings that came out of such a short sentence.

"You really like this guy, huh?"

She nodded.

"Do you think there's still a valid reason for you to like him until now? Maybe he's changed in the last two years."

Momo quizzically and amusedly looked at me with a smile. "You're asking too many questions. And you're too pointy towards 'reason'" She started swinging her legs, like a kid. "In love, reason is bullshit."

"Oh wow, smart words. Really. That's great." I sarcastically gave her an applause, while she just laughed.

"Hey, let's play a game." She suddenly said, interrupting me when I was about to ask her more questions.

"A game? What are you, a kid?" I glanced down at her swinging legs. "It looks like you are."

Momo slapped my arm and laughed. "Since you're really into questions tonight, and I still need to recover from my little shock, this game will do us good." She put her fist on her palm. "Rock, paper, scissors. The loser answers truthfully to the winner's question."

Little shock? What shock? I turned to face her and set down my cup of coffee. "Game."

"One question per round, okay?" She teased and we began to play.

She won the first round.

"Bullshit, you cheated." I pointed an accusatory finger at her hand, making her laugh.

"Who was the kid again?"

"Not me. Kids don't say 'Bullshit'. And you just asked your question, round two."

She gasped in horror. "Oh my gosh, you are such a cheater!" She gave up anyway and played along.

After idiotic questions during the first rounds, I turned the questions up to a notch.

"Don't you sometimes think that… maybe you don't actually like him anymore? Like, maybe you think you like him just out of habit?"

Momo seemed to be taken aback from my question, but she immediately recovered. "You just asked me two questions." She looked down, her lashes hiding her eyes. "I don't want to think of someone I've liked for so many years to be merely a habit. So, yes, I still like him. And no, I don't think of him as a habit."

"Sorry." I apologized. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I just wanted to test the waters for Kira. I need to find out if her feelings for this Aizen guy are going to be a serious obstacle for him.

The game went on.

"Why are you asking me so many questions tonight?"

I titled my head, thinking of a good answer. Momo narrowed her eyes at me, in a silent reminder that we were to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth. "Because I'm curious."

Momo burst out in laughter. "Yeah right. If you have to lie, try harder."

"It's the truth! Really!" I insisted, hoping that she'll let it slide this time.

"Right, whatever, you liar." She grumbled. "You owe me so much for letting you slide by with your stupid lies!" I just laughed at her seemingly mad expression.

Along the run, I was running out of questions. Until something tingled in the back of my head. "Earlier you said you were in shock… What did you mean by that?"

Momo blinked a couple of times, then chuckled. "Nothing much… I was just shocked that you actually talked to me."

"Oh come on, I always talk to you."

She just shook her head with a smile. "You've run out of your lying permits, Toushirou."

Without saying anything more, we played another round and she won.

"So… what did I do wrong to make you avoid me for two years?"

I was seriously taken aback from her question. Is that what she's been thinking in the past two years? That she probably did something wrong? "No! You did nothing wrong." I tried to steady my voice down, not wanting to wake up the whole neighborhood. "I wasn't avoiding you."

"Yes, you were!" Her brows shot up "You think I didn't notice?"

"I…" I opened my mouth to say something, but then I closed it again.

What was I supposed to say? 'Oh yeah, I've been avoiding you because Kira is madly in love with you, and he feels uncomfortable when he sees us like this.'

Momo bit her lower lip, a usual habit of hers when she gets nervous. "Can I ask you a favor?"

I agreed before even knowing what she wanted.

"Can we go back to the way we used to be? I remember so vividly my first months here in Karakura, when you and I hit it off so well. Or am I being too presumptuous saying such things? Was I – no, _am_ I the only one who thinks this way?"

_No._ A voice in my head immediately answered. She was right. Sometimes, as much as I hate admitting it, I regretted my decision to put a distance between us just because Kira said he felt uncomfortable. Plus, he never asked me to distance myself from her.

Denying the friendship that was obviously meant to be born between us felt wrong.

There's nothing wrong being friends with my best friend's crush, right? This is going to be good for all of us; this way, I gain a good friend with whom I really get along (which is _extremely rare_ for me), helping Kira to catch her heart will certainly be easier, and Momo will also be happy (I guess).

I just shook my head, unable to take out all the thoughts that formed in my mind in that moment.

She smiled with a hint of sadness. "And… I've had past experiences with people avoiding me… and it wasn't a nice experience. I just really want to get along with everyone in our group." She shifted in her seat and looked at me straight in the eyes. "Just tell me what I did wrong, I'll fix it. I promise."

The sun was lazily rising now. The first rays of light gently lit everything up. Momo looked seriously worried, and the stabbing guilty feeling worsened. "You did nothing wrong, really… You know I'm not much of a talker."

She raised her eyebrow mockingly, wordlessly saying 'Really? Didn't seem like it tonight.'

"Alright, except for tonight." She laughed at my lame answer. "Seriously, though. You know that I'm one of those guys who'd rather stay at home and watch a movie than go out and chit chat."

Her lips curled up into a bright smile. "I know..." For a moment, I thought she was going to say something else, but it seems like she refrained herself from doing so.

"If it bothered you, I'm sorry. I promise, from now on I'll try to talk a little bit more… but I also want you to promise me something."

Momo immediately nodded.

"If… _if_ Kira ever asks you to go out, on a date or something, will you please say yes?"

She titled her head and frowned in confusion. "Why would he do that? He and I are just friends now…"

I couldn't help a smile forming on my face. So my theory has been verified; she's dense when it comes to love. "I don't know. Just promise me this."

Momo smiled. "Alright. I promise."

**oOOOo**

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! :D The wheels of fate are now set in motion, and I can't wait to finish the next chapter already hahahah I've taken quiet a liking to this story!**

**Leave a review, let me know what you guys think is going to happen in the next chapter :3**

**Toodles! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi everyone! :D Here goes chapter 6! Hope you guys enjoy it :)**

**Shoutout to the reviewers and readers who faved this story, love you lots 3 I read some guesses on what's going to happen in this chapter hahah I gotta say, you guys have a wild imagination! All of them were pretty interesting hahah! Keep trying, who knows, maybe someone might actually get it right :))**

**Please do leave a review :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach**

**oOOOo**

"_Momo-chan's birthday is on the 3rd of June… still in spring, yet so close to summer. It fits her perfectly! Fresh and pure like spring, warm and energetic like summer. Not too hot to be in the middle of summer, and not too cold to be in the beginning of spring."_

"_I'm going to throw up."_

"_A perfect day set when the days turn warmer and warmer, when the rainy clouds drift away as the sun comes out."_

"_Oh come on, now." I laughed. "That's so cheesy!"_

_Kira narrowed his eyes at me jokingly. "One day, Toushirou, you will also fall in love with someone and you'll turn into a cheesy monster – as you've been defining me recently – yourself. Maybe you'll be even worse than me."_

**Want to come in?**

It's been a couple of days since Rangiku's sleepover, and… there have been some interesting changes in our group.

Ichigo and Rukia have gone public – though everyone already knew that there was something between them; Momo and the girls are going mental over her approaching birthday party, and Kira has been pestering me with questions about Momo when I told him that we were going to be good buddies again.

Meanwhile, I've been planning out various ways for Kira to steal Momo's heart. Or to at least let her give him a shot.

"How about this then… During her birthday party, I'm going to snatch her away for a moment, take her somewhere we can be alone, and confess?" He ranted excitedly.

"How many times do I have to repeat that she's not into cliché situations?" I answered with a sigh, while doing math homework.

"It's not cliché!" He said, almost sounding offended. "It's romantic."

"She doesn't seem to like that, too." I mumbled, wondering if I was right that Momo rejected him for his excessive romanticism.

"What?" Kira asked, he probably didn't hear me.

"Nothing," I shut my notebook and looked out of the glassed door. "Ugh, look at that sun. I bet it's very hot outside."

"That's normal, Toushirou. It's almost summer." He explained patiently with a laugh. "Why do you hate it so much?"

"Because it's too hot. It's too bright." I took a piece of watermelon, which I prepared earlier for a snack. "Cold weather is better. Staying in bed when it's cold is the best."

"Cold weather isn't really the best when we you have soccer practice, though."

"Constantly running around a field warms us up pretty well." I readily answered. "Winter rocks."

Kira just shook his head, smiling in defeat. "Alright, stubborn guy." He quickly finished off his English homework and looked out of the window, directed towards Momo's house. "It's funny, though…" He then mumbled to himself, grabbing a slice of watermelon.

"What is?" I asked, with my mouth still full.

He laughed at my full mouth and answered "Momo-chan's birthday is on the 3rd of June… still in spring, yet so close to summer."

I raised my brow questioningly. "So?" I urged him to continue. I still didn't get his point.

"So, it fits her perfectly!" Kira explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Fresh and pure like spring, warm and energetic like summer. Not too hot to be in the middle of summer, and not too cold to be in the beginning of spring."

"I'm going to throw up."

He ignored me, he was already used to my random sour mood anyway. "A perfect day set when the days turn warmer and warmer, when the rainy clouds drift away as the sun comes out."

"Oh come on, now." I laughed. "That's so cheesy!"

Kira narrowed his eyes at me jokingly. "One day, Toushirou, you will also fall in love with someone and you'll turn into a cheesy monster – as you've been defining me recently – yourself. Maybe you'll be even worse than me."

"Not gonna happen." I munched on the fruit and nodded to myself. "This has to be the only good thing about summer."

"Watermelon?"

I gave him a thumbs up.

**oOOOo**

"So, we've got the venue where catering is included, the invitations are almost done, I already have my list of 18 Candles and 18 Roses, I already have a gown…" Momo listed off the things she's been organizing in the past days. "What else?"

"Music for the 18 Roses. Cake, the theme of the party… escort!" Rukia, Rangiku and Orihime contributed to the things they still had to do, making Momo shove her hands in her hair.

"Escort!" She screamed in despair.

"Escort!" Agreed Rangiku.

"Escort!" Teased Rukia.

"Can you girls stop repeating 'escort' and talk in a normal language please?" Said Ichigo.

"List of songs, everybody, brainstorm!" And brainstorm we did, everyone scribbled down on their own piece of paper eligible songs for slow dancing. The guys volunteered to help Momo out with her preparations, what choice did I have if not contribute too?

"Momo, the party is merely two weeks away. You have to ask him now." I heard Rukia speak to Momo while we were all still contributing to the playlist of the 18 Roses.

"I know…" Momo answered in a worried voice, even I could feel the anxiousness irradiating off of her. "You have to help me. How do I do it? Like, 'Yo' man, wazzup? 'Wanna be my wingman, dude? Wanna party hard at mah B-day?'"

I chuckled under my breath, amused that even during times of extreme anxiety – for her, at least – she still found the time to mess around like that. Kira elbowed me in the ribs, silently scolding me for laughing when Momo was so distressed.

"Just ask him! Pull your lady balls out and just say 'Hey, would you like to be my escort for my birthday party?'" Rukia started to push Momo out of the living room.

"But, I don't have balls!" Said Momo before disappearing into the hallway with Rukia, Orihime and Rangiku. Meanwhile, I laughed. Seriously, that girl…

"Momo has it tough, huh?" Renji commented, scratching his head. "I have no idea on what song to suggest."

"Go figure, you ignorant baboon." Said Ishida.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Yelled the baboon, as he snatched Ishida's piece of paper, reading the list of songs. "'I'll always love you'? 'Time after time'? 'Total eclipse of the heart'?"

Ichigo, Ikkaku and Yumichika started laughing.

"What? You don't even know what these songs are?" Ishida got his sheet back, smartly fixing his glasses on his nose.

"Of course I do! That one song there is the 'Turn around bright eyes' thing, right?" Renji answered indignantly.

"Oh yeah? Turn around bright eyes?" I asked mockingly, holding back my laughter. "What song is it? Can you sing it?"

The red haired guy smugly laughed "HAH! See? Toushirou doesn't know it!" He cleared his throat and started singing in his tone deaf way. "Turn arouuuuuuuund – everynowandthenIgetalittlebitlonely-"

We all burst out in laughter. Making fun of Renji has to be one of the best ways to entertain myself when I get bored.

"What?!" He didn't even look embarrassed "That's the song!"

"Yeah, hey. Guys, he's right." Said Ichigo, suddenly turning serious, while reading Renji's list. "Can you uh, sing this one?" He shoved the piece of paper in Renji's face. "The one with Eminem?"

"'Lose yourself'? Yeah, sure. Nothing easier." Renji confidently answered, clearing his throat. "Mom's spaghetti! Knees are pee, mom's spaghetti! He's nervous! But on the Sulphur he looks palm and bready!" To accompany is _fantastic_ rapping, he moved like he was a pro at it.

There went another round of laughter.

By the time we all calmed down and got back to business, it was my turn to scratch my head in confusion. What kind of song should I even write down?

Slow dance… Scurrying through my memories of every movie I've watched, I tried to remember what songs were used in romantic movies. I just wrote down the few songs I could remember, probably opportune for a slow dance. Meh, who cares? It's not like I'm the only one who's handing her a list of songs to pick from.

The girls walked back in the living room, looking gloomy.

Kira and I exchanged quick questioning looks and turned back to them. "What happened?" He asked.

No one said a word, until Momo let out a long sigh. "He said he has a basketball match on the day of my party." Then she smiled "Oh well. Hey, what were you guys laughing about earlier?"

She seemed perfectly fine. The other three looked gloomier than her, which made no sense.

Well, Momo looks like she's fine, so I guess everything's okay. Rukia, Rangiku and Orihime are probably overreacting.

'_This is Kira's chance! He can be her escort!'_ I then thought, turning to look at my best friend. He was pursing his lips, and his hands were balled in fists. Whoa, he looked mad. "Uh… Kira?"

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to writing down his list. Oh shit, just how many songs did he write down?

**oOOOo**

As usual, we were going to have lunch at the school's rooftop. The sun shone far too brightly for my taste, but whatever. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

The guys and I waited for the girls to come up before eating, they were still at the canteen.

When they finally got here and sat down, we began eating.

I noticed something as I was about to take a sip of my bottle of water. "Where's your orange juice?"

Momo blinked in confusion, looking around her. "Oh. I forgot." She laughed at her own forgetfulness. "I'll just buy something to drink before going back in the classroom."

Even today, the main topic was Momo's birthday party. It's merely a week away, the girls are now finalizing the last things that needed to be fixed.

Meanwhile, Kira was staring at Momo's lunchbox. Why would he do that? Is he still hungry? "Get a hold of yourself, dude." I whispered, nudging him subtly "Want half of my sandwich?"

He turned to look at me with an incredulous expression "What?"

"Stop ogling at her lunchbox." And just as I said that, he looked back at Momo's lunchbox.

Momo finally noticed, and she held the said lunchbox towards Kira with a smile "Would you like to try some, Kira-kun? My mom prepared it this morning."

Kira quickly shook his head, faintly blushing "No, thanks, Momo-chan. You should eat some more. You barely touched your food."

Quirking my eyebrow, I peeked at Momo's lunchbox. The food, which was usually so colorful, looked simple and healthy. And she's a big eater, she usually finishes her lunch very quickly.

Now it was, as Kira said, barely touched.

"Stop distracting her, guys." Rangiku scolded Kira and me. What? I didn't do anything! "So, back on topic. The theme for your party… you said you wanted to see this one –…" They went on with their discussion, and I went on with my sandwich.

**oOOOo**

"I'm telling you, she's been acting weird since last week." Kira said as he cleaned the blackboard. Kira and a couple of other classmates were in charge of cleaning duty today, while I was in charge of the class journal.

I just shrugged and continued writing on the class journal. "Or you're just being paranoid."

"No no no." He insisted, leaning back against the wall. "Trust me. Take her lunch, for example. Remember when she told us that she _always_ prepares it by herself? Her mom prepared it this time!"

"Well, maybe she just woke up late so her mom prepared it for her."

"Fine. Then explain her lack of appetite." Kira got the mop and started cleaning the floor "You know how much she loves eating."

I shrugged. "Maybe she had too many snacks before lunch break?"

"What about her favorite orange juice?" He asked slowly. "You noticed it first."

That affirmation made me raise my brows in surprise. What was that even supposed to mean? "Everyone probably noticed that." I finished writing the last thing in the journal and closed it, looking up at Kira "I think Momo's pretty much acting as she usually is."

"Exactly, she's just _acting_ it."

I rolled my eyes and helped him clean the rest of the classroom "You're just being paranoid."

"No, I'm just worried." He calmly when we were done cleaning up. "I think that it's because that Aizen guy is not coming along."

"Very well, then." I huffed, putting my bag over my shoulder, ready to go "You should tell Momo that you can be her escort."

Kira just blushed.

**oOOOo**

I was relaxing under the tree in my backyard, already on the verge of falling asleep under the cool shade.

"Ah! Just in time!" I heard someone talk, but I didn't bother to search the source of the voice. "Toushirou!"

"No." I grumbled, turning on my side.

"Aw come on! We need your smart brain!" That was Rukia.

"If I help you now, will you leave me alone for the rest of my life?"

"Of course not!" Rangiku replied confidently with a laugh.

Groaning in frustration, I got up from my spot and walked up to the fence that divided our backyards "What do you want?"

Rukia dramatically cleared her throat and began a long introduction to whatever she wanted to ask me. "As you know, Karakura's traditional 18th birthday for girls is _very_ special and grand. A beautiful venue, high quality food and cake, a dazzling dress and every other things are very important. But the crucial part is the _escort_."

I rolled my eyes. "Just go straight to the point, Rukia."

"You have to help us find the perfect escort for Momo."

"Kira. Okay, I'm done." I turned to leave but the two screamed to stop me. "What?"

"You know he can't do it!" Rangiku said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's going to create big misunderstandings."

I quirked my brow at her. "What? Because you think Momo will never come to like Kira?"

"Well, she did reject him _twice_." Muttered Rukia. "Seriously, though. We're running out of ideas here. If someone comes to mind, let us know. Time is ticking, we need someone who is available the day of Momo's party."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked at the two girls who looked back at me with hopeful eyes. After our staring contest, I gave in. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this party?"

"Because it's her 18th, and this is how we do it in Karakura!" Explained Rangiku. The two then exchanged a quick look, but full of hidden meanings.

Rukia pursed her lips, and in a low voice, she spoke. "Momo really cares about this party. And she's really bummed about Aizen flunking out on her like that… so we figured that finding her a good escort who can let her have a good time at her party and keep Aizen off her mind on her special day was probably a good solution."

"I'm pretty sure she can have a good time even without an escort." I deadpanned sarcastically, but their sad look has always had a little strange effect on me "But I guess she won't be able to help but think how the party could have been if he had been by her side, huh?"

"See? You get it." Rangiku sighed. "Well, we're going back in. Momo and Orihime are preparing us some snacks. Want to join us?"

I just dismissively waved my hand and walked back to my spot under the tree, while the two walked back in Momo's house.

So Kira was right. Momo really was affected by Aizen's absence.

I looked up at the clear blue sky, the sun shone brightly. With a sigh, I walked inside my house and began my research for possible candidates as Momo's escort.

**oOOOo**

Around 6 pm I could hear Rangiku's obnoxiously loud voice outside, saying goodbye to Momo, along with Rukia and Orihime.

I peeked out of our living room's window which faced the front of our house, and saw the three girls walking in the direction of their houses, their faces etched with worry.

Ugh, why do girls have to be so dramatic? They better stop making that face when I find the perfect escort for Momo, jeez.

Damn it, though. My list is done, but Rangiku and the others were already gone. Does Momo even know that I prepared this list? How am I supposed to present this to her?

Taking a deep breath, I folded the piece of paper in my hand and headed out of my house, then turned to Momo's house.

I'll just slip the list under her front door, she doesn't have to see it right away anyway. The front gate was left open, as usual, I jogged my way through the front lawn, since the gate was open anyway, and I stepped up on the porch. I knelt down and slipped the list under the front door, making sure that it got inside the house.

When I turned to leave, I was suddenly stopped by Momo's voice. "Who is it?" She asked, without opening the door. "Toushirou?"

I glanced at the door, but it was still closed. Well, she knows it's me. Escaping silently makes no sense now, so I decided to stay. "It's a, uh… list." I was still very close to the door, I could very faintly hear the sound of the piece of paper rustling under her hands. "You know, for your escort." I quickly added, rubbing the back of my neck.

Shit, why am I so nervous? It's not like I committed a crime or anything. You're just embarrassed, said a voice in the back of my head. Whoah, am I hearing things now? And, I am not embarrassed.

I look like an idiot who's talking to himself, out here. Maybe that's why I'm embarrassed. I was tempted to ask Momo to let me in, but that probably made no sense. I mean… a guy walking in a girl's house when she's all alone in the evening didn't sound so good.

Momo still didn't say anything, by the sound of it she was going through the list I wrote, but it shouldn't take her so long since it was very short. While waiting, I decided to just sit down, leaning my back against the door.

"You made this?" She then asked.

"Yeah," I immediately answered, kind of curious on how she'll react at the sight of particular names I wrote down.

"Mizuiro?" I heard her ask. "Well, yeah, he is the gentleman kind of guy."

I smiled to myself; the girl knew pretty much everyone in town, she was the 'all around' type of person. She loved Karakura as much as the villagers loved her.

The soft thudding sounds coming from the other side of the door suggested that she slowly sat down on the floor. "Wow, is this Ikkaku's name I'm reading?" She said incredulously.

"Hey, don't underestimate him." I mockingly scolded her, leaning my head back against the door. "I figured that, with Ikkaku, you'll never get bored." Then, I remembered Renji's rapping from the other day "Renji is also in the 'entertaining escort' category, if you'd like."

Momo burst out into a fit of laughter, I could hear the sound of her hand slamming on the wall. I smiled, already imagining her laughing her ass off and smacking her hand against something, as she usually did.

"If Ichigo wasn't dating Rukia, I probably would have put him in the list too." I said when she finally calmed down.

"Ehhh… Ichigo's not bad." She said, sounding distracted.

"He had the escort material." I jokingly said. "Ishida was a good candidate too, if only he was a bit more talkative."

No noise came from the other side of the door, for a moment I thought that Momo already left or fell asleep. Until she softly spoke up. "You really thought it through, didn't you?"

I figured she was referring to the list I made. "No, not really. But don't expect gifts from me on your birthday, I've already put enough contribution for your party preparations." I added jokingly.

A faint laughter came through the door "Thanks. I appreciate it."

I looked down at my sneakers, not sure if I should feel embarrassed or worried at her sad tone. The two of us didn't utter another word for a long moment. We just sat together, separated by the door.

Then, I heard shuffling sounds from the inside. I sat up straight, and Momo opened the door. "Want to come in? We have some cake in the fridge." She smiled.

And then, it hit me. The reason I didn't leave quickly as planned wasn't because she caught me slipping the list under her door. The reason I stayed back to sit down and talk with her in that ridiculous manner, divided by a door, was because I was waiting.

I was waiting for her to show up. Because I needed to see for myself how she was doing.

All because of the big change in her voice from the moment she bid farewell to the girls to when she asked who was at the door.

In that moment, the sadness in her voice was so unlike her.

_"You really thought it through, didn't you?"_

Of course I did. I'm not going to let some guy named Aizen ruin my friend's birthday.

"I'll pass." I answered, then, getting up from my sitting spot. "I'll see you tomorrow."

In my mind, I was still convinced that fretting over so much for a party was ridiculous. Go figure how ridiculous it is to fret over an _escort_. Momo can easily replace him with Kira, for Pete's sake.

But… Aizen Sousuke is, after all, her beloved crush since childhood. Though, without considering any sort of romantic feelings in this situation, one would expect him to attend his childhood _friend_'s 18th birthday party.

Now I understand why the girls were so worried.

**oOOOo**

**A/N: And chapter 6 is dooone! I'm already working on chapter 7, so I might update soon :)**

**So what was your favorite part? What do you think is going to happen in the next chapter? Leave a review and let me know :D**

**Toodles!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey everyone! It's been a while! I'm so sorry, I waited for the exams' results to come out first before officially beginning my summer vacation… so it took me quite a while to update this story.**

**Anyway, here's chapter 7! I hope you guys enjoy it **

**Big thanks to all of you out there, to the readers, reviewers and whatnot.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!**

**oOOOo**

"_Alright. I'll be your escort then."_

_WHAT?_

"_What?" Momo stopped mid-sob and quickly looked up at me, her face all messed up from crying._

**The wake up call.**

Momo's birthday party has become the talk of the town, since everyone was pretty much invited.

The girls in our group were slowly crumbling under the pressure, every single one of them feeling it for the high expectations they put upon themselves. I mean, townies here in Karakura are pretty much simple minded people, they probably wouldn't mind an average party.

At least, that's what Ichigo and the other guys have been saying about the girls' feisty temper. And by 'girls' I mean Rukia and Rangiku. Orihime and Momo seemed to be fine.

But I'm kind of suspecting that there's another reason for their edgy mood.

"Here's your change, Toushirou-kun."

I thanked Hinamori-san (Momo's Mom) and neatly put the change in my wallet. "How are the preparations going so far?"

"Ah well, Momo-chan told me the preparations are almost complete." She then sighed "I just wish she let us help them with all the preparations."

"She… what?" I asked, stunned. So, all this time the only ones preparing for the party have been Momo and the other three?

"You should know by now how stubborn she can be sometimes." Hinamori-san sighed once again, defeated. "The only thing I managed to take off her hands was the birthday cake."

"That's already a conquest, Hinamori-san."

"Indeed!" She said laughing.

"Ah, Hinamori-san. Just out of curiosity, have you invited anyone from your former city?"

"Yes, just an old family friend of ours. Unfortunately, though, they won't be able to come. They're off on a trip overseas, and their son has already something to do that day." Hinamori-san shook her head in dismay. "It's too bad, we haven't seen them in so long."

So it's confirmed. Aizen – and apparently his family too – is not coming to the party.

"I'll be leaving, then, Hinamori-san."

"Take care on your way home."

Finally done with my snacks-shopping, I went straight home, tired from club activities.

As they say, Thank God It's Friday, right?

Momo's birthday and the party is this Sunday. I wonder how she's doing right now?

**oOOOo**

The 'The Hangover' played on TV, I lazily laid across the couch while eating the sweets I bought from the Hinamori's patisserie.

My phone loudly buzzed on the coffee table, so I slowly reached out for it and flipped it open.

**Let's exchange brains. – Momo**

I laughed at the text. She really has her own ways of making me laugh, jeez.

**Not a chance. – Toushirou**

**Even for just a moment? I'm in trouble . - Momo**

_Trouble?_ I glanced out of the window, in her house's direction.

**Are you okay? – Toushirou**

**Yeah, yeah. Nothing much, just the end of the world approaching. – Momo**

**Great! – Toushirou**

**Nooooo you're supposed to panic and ask me how to prevent it! – Momo**

**Too lazy to even try and stop it. – Toushirou**

Waiting for her reply, I turned my attention back to the movie. My eyes moved on their own, stealing glances at my phone laying next to me.

_How weird… she usually replies immediately._

Shaking my thoughts away, I looked back at the TV screen.

Before even realizing it, I was looking out of the window, checking for any weird movements in the neighbor's house. I noticed that the windows of her house, at least on the side that I could see, were wide open.

It's a warm sunny day, she told me once that she liked to keep windows and doors open to let the sun's warmth in her house. It was something she couldn't do back in the city she used to live into. Though I warned her so many times not to do it when she was all alone at home.

Sure, Karakura is a small village where no crimes are committed, but you never know.

Giving up on the movie, I turned the TV off and made my way out of my house, directed in Momo's house.

Look at that, all the windows and doors are open wide. _That stubborn girl!_

I stood by the porch "Momo?" I called her out.

"Toushirou! Help me!"

A rush of adrenaline coursed through me. What happened?! I quickly ran inside, following the source of her voice. It sounds like she's upstairs. "Momo?!"

When I found her, I let out a big sigh and slumped down on the floor.

"Jesus, Momo! I thought something serious happened!"

"It is serious!" She complained, trying to escape the jungle of silk and frills and lace surrounding her. "I can't get out of this dress! I think I should go on a diet before my party."

"I think you put it wrong." I narrowed my eyes at her, but she ignored me, busy in her attempts to reach for the zipper on her back. "Serves you right for always eating so many cakes without sharing."

Momo sheepishly grinned "I often think of sharing them with you, dear neighbor."

"You should _do_ rather than just _think_." I teased, walking behind her. "Pull your stupid long hair aside."

"Yeah, thanks for the compliment, you too." She deadpanned, while doing as she was told. Of course, without forgetting to roll her eyes.

"Your hair is just too long," My fingers fiddled with the zipper, which got stuck with the T-shirt she was wearing under the dress. "And what gave you the fantastic idea of putting on this fancy dress over your clothes?"

She shrugged. "My brain." I shook my head, smiling at her answer. "And I like my hair." Momo twirled a lock around her finger. "Sousuke-kun likes girls with long hair."

"Ah. That explains a lot." I mumbled loud enough for her to hear me.

"So, what do you think of the dress?" Momo peeked over her shoulder. "I'm going to wear this at the party."

I quickly scanned the mess surrounding her, unable to figure out what it's supposed to actually look like. But at the sight of all that lace and pearls, I could guess that it was supposed to be one of those frilly feminine dresses. "Too feminine for you."

A laugh escaped her lips "You think so too, huh?"

"Yep. Whoever chose this probably has no idea how manlier you are than Ikkaku." I finally eased the zipper back and pulled it all the way down. "There you go."

Momo thanked me and quickly slipped out of the dress, revealing her oversized T-shirt and comfy pajama pants. "Ahhh, I'm free!"

"How long have you been stuck in that?"

"Ehhh, a couple of thousands of seconds." She grumbled, neatly folding the long dress over her arm.

"Thirty minutes?" I laughed while she frowned, embarrassed.

"Yeah. Good thing you're good with numbers."

"Oh come on, I just saved you from that, didn't I?"

Momo rolled her eyes and gave up with a smile. I glanced around my surroundings while she was busy to find a hanger for her dress. This was her room, huh? Sakura pink walls, Christmas lights hung on them, and there were lots of pictures hanging by her mirror.

"Even your room looks too feminine for you." I absentmindedly commented, noticing the big pile of books in a corner, next to a beanie bag and a small and low coffee table.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Momo smiling while shaking her head. "Come on, let's have some cake downstairs."

"I thought you were going on a diet."

"Me? Diet?" She laughed. "Never!"

We made our way downstairs, idly chatting about her incoming birthday party. Momo neatly served different slices of cakes, along with some drinks.

"So, how are your birthday party's preparations going along?"

"Oh, you know… Rangiku and Rukia are going gaga over every single thing." Momo laughingly explained.

"Must be hard on you, to be handling so many things."

"It's not that bad." She fondly smiled, taking a bite of the cheesecake on her plate. "I'm going to dedicate this party to the villagers of Karakura. They've been nothing but kind towards me and my parents ever since we got here." Momo leaned back in her chair and swung her legs under the table. "Rather than birthday party, I'd love to call it a 'Thank You party'."

"Wow, a 'Thank You party' two years later?" She kicked my shin, making me nearly fold in two for the pain. "OUCH."

"Yeah, that was the point of my kick." Momo smiled sweetly, though there was no sweet meaning behind it.

"Gee, thanks." I muttered. "Should've let you rot in that stupid dress."

"Oh come on, now. Don't be so mean." She jokingly batted her lashes, putting another slice of the Black Forest cake on my plate. "Here you go, eat some more, Mr. I-saved-you-from-a-dress. You must be tired from all the action."

I laughed at her mockingly sweet tone, eating a mouthful of the cake. Her Dad's version of the Black Forest has to be the best one in the world. "Damn right, I am. Do you know how much energy it takes to save people from evil dresses?"

"Wow, I can't even imagine." She played along, now eating a piece of what looked like custard cake. "I guess that's what makes you so popular, here in Karakura. The hero who saves people from evil dresses. The hero this town didn't really need."

At that point, we both started laughing, still happily eating our cakes. A breeze blew by us, reminding me of the open doors and windows. "Hey, I thought I told you many times already not to leave them open."

Momo shrugged. "There's nothing to worry about, Toushirou. When was the last time a crime was registered here in Karakura?"

I frowned. "A very long time ago. But it doesn't mean that you can still leave your house like this when you're all alone."

"You're just next door, anyway!" She really looked like she didn't care at all. "I can always scream bloody murder and the entire village will hear me."

"Thank God you love Karakura." I retorted ironically, making her laugh.

"I'm not belittling its size. I like the fact that this village is so small." She grinned.

I shook my head and drank a sip of the coffee she prepared. "So… Have you chosen your escort yet?"

Momo froze for an instant. "No… No, I haven't." She looked at me with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry. Even though you went out of your way to prepare a list of candidates."

"I told you not to worry about that thing," I dismissively waved my hand. "I wrote down the first names that came into my mind." Of course, she saw right through my lie.

Letting out a sigh, she fiddled with the cup in front of her. "The girls are insisting that I should just go ahead and pick one."

"You know… it's not really necessary to have an escort. It's not obligatory." I explained, seeing the hesitation in her eyes. _Though you will certainly need an escort to keep your mind off of Aizen._ The rest of my thoughts were left unsaid.

Momo just looked down at her lap, as if finding something interesting to keep her distracted.

"Just pick a random one." I suggested with a shrug "Roll the dice, close your eye and see where your finger lands on."

"I can't." She said sadly. "I don't want to."

I sternly looked at her. "You think that your guests will feel comfortable seeing you frowning throughout the party?"

She couldn't say anything to that. Her long hair fell into cascades over her shoulders, as she sunk low in her seat.

"Seriously, Momo. There won't be any meaning behind your choice for an escort. It doesn't mean you're going to end up with whoever you're going to choose, if that's what's you're worried about."

"No, it's not that…" The brunette answered, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Call me stupid or whatever, but I still hope for Sousuke-kun to show up…"

What? _What?_ "Are you—you can't be serious."

She just smiled sadly. "It's ridiculous, huh? Though he already said that he won't be able to come, I'm still hoping that he will just suddenly call me, or text me. And then he'd say that it was all a joke and that he's actually coming and going to be my escort." Looking up with a dreamy look, she matched a sigh. "Or that he's going to just turn up at the party and take the place of the 18th Rose, for the final dance…"

I rolled my eyes. Turns out that she's actually a hopeless romantic, just like Kira. The two are a match made in heaven. "Alright. First, you need to get over your phase of denial." She frowned at my frankness, but she didn't complain. "Second, if your last fantasy were to come true, then you might as well randomly choose an escort while you wait for him to magically pop out of nowhere, Miss Hopeless Romantic."

Momo laid her head on the table, looking out of the glassed door that lead to her backyard. "I don't want to use anyone for my own selfish desires." She muttered. "Whoever will have the unlucky role to become my escort… I will see them simply as Sousuke-kun's replacement."

"Well, whoever is going to be your escort won't know it. So they probably won't mind." I served myself another slice of the Black Forest cake.

"That's what would make me even more guilty… they would have no idea that I'm mentally photoshopping their faces, replacing them with Sousuke-kun's face."

I laughed at her explanation. "Then explain them right away that they're just going to be your beloved Sousuke-kun's rebound."

"No, that doesn't sound nice." She started laughing. "I can already imagine them flipping me their middle finger."

"Call Kira, then. Trust me, he'll be more than happy to be your escort."

Momo lifted her head up to look at me. "No. I don't want Kira-kun to be my escort." She slumped her head back down on the table. "Besides, he's not on the list."

"Hey, no one said that you had to choose only from the list." I scolded her, accusingly pointing the fork in my hand at her. "And what's wrong with Kira? He's a nice guy."

"I don't want to create misunderstandings."

Surprised, I stopped half-way through my bite of the cake, looking at her. _So she knows he still likes her?_ "Misunderstandings?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yeah." She sounded confused herself, though. "That's what Rangiku and Rukia keep on saying whenever Orihime suggests Kira-kun to be my escort."

_Go figure._ I sarcastically thought. Seriously, what did they have against poor Kira? "Why would there be misunderstandings with him?"

"Because they keep saying he still likes me." Momo sighed "I don't understand why they keep saying that. Kira-kun and I are just friends, we made it clear when I-" She stopped mid-sentence, blushing.

"When you rejected him?" I tentatively finished her sentence.

"Y-yeah. That." She sounded incredibly embarrassed and… guilty? "Anyway, if what that crazy duo says is true, then Kira-kun should be the last person to be my escort… I've already r-rejected him twice, I don't want to add up to my list of wrong-doings against him by using him like this."

Titling my head to the side, I carefully thought of Momo's logic. I guess she has a point, though I'd really like for her to choose Kira.

But it was her birthday party, after all. The choice was still up to her, and whoever was going to be her escort is going to be unlucky, since he's merely going to take the 'rebound' role.

Kira doesn't deserve to be used like that. He'll have his chance with her on some other occasion.

Ugh, so much drama just because of this missing Aizen guy.

"You know..." Momo began speaking, making me snap out of my thoughts. "Sousuke-kun has changed so much…" She sounded like she was lost in her thoughts, but still continued to talk. "I've seen his updates on the social media. He's been hanging out in clubs, smoking, drinking… Your typical bad boy."

I rolled my eyes at the story. That time at the slumber party she's been bragging how much of a good kid Aizen was, and now the truth comes out.

"I've been thinking of the conversations we had at Rangiku's place… Is there still a reason for me to like someone who has changed this much?"

Once again, I was taken aback from her change of mood. Her voice shook, as if she was on the verge of crying.

Oh hell, who am I kidding? This is Momo Hinamori, and Momo Hinamori never cries.

"Like you said, there doesn't necessarily have to be a reason to like someone." I tried to console her nonetheless.

"No, I was nonsensical." Oh shit, was she actually crying? "I've been doing nothing but force my ideals upon Sousuke-kun. The disappointment I felt upon his refusal… I've been delusional over him. I was hanging over every word I could get from him. And I interpreted them in my own way, pretending that maybe, even if just a little, he liked me back." Alright, now she was full out sobbing. "I don't even care about the party anymore. The party will only remind me of how Sousuke-kun flat out rejected me, both as a woman and as a friend."

Nervously, I scratched the back of my head. I was holding back from laughing, because the sounds she made were kind of cute and funny. But at the same time, I couldn't help but feel sad at the sight of her tears. Now I kind of understand Kira's anger towards Aizen.

"And now, I can't even bring myself to choose for an escort. That one major thing the girls ask me to do while they take care of the rest, I cannot do." She wailed like a little kid, but the sadness in her voice was crystal clear.

"Alright. I'll be your escort then."

_WHAT?_ "What?" Momo stopped mid-sob and quickly looked up at me, her face all messed up from crying.

"It's not a big deal, and it really doesn't mean anything." I grabbed a tissue and rubbed it all over her face, in an attempt to wipe her tears and snot away. "Just take it as a favor you're going to owe me. For the rest of your life." My mouth kind of moved on its own, and my brain tried to catch up with the events.

"Really?" The spark of hope in Momo's eyes got my brain to function slower and my mouth faster.

"Yeah. Since I know the situation, you can't consider this as using someone, right?"

She just nodded, though she looked as lost as I felt. "Alright then… please take care of me."

I refrained my jaw from dropping on the floor. Oh shit, what did I just do?

**oOOOo**

I was still in a daze when I went to Kira's house. Damn, Momo was really bummed about this Aizen thing.

At least, she had her wake up call. Hopefully she will move on from that douche.

"Huh? You're going to be her escort?"

"I'm just Aizen's replacement. Don't take it the wrong way." I explained with a frustrated sigh. "We both made it clear when we sorted things out. This is strictly business."

"Yeah, wait until it gets personal, then let me know how professional you two can be." Kira frowned and plopped down on the couch. "Jeez, man… You're so lucky."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, this is merely a friend doing a favor to a good friend."

"Oh yeah? I'd like to be that friend, then."

Titling my head to the side, I quirked my brow at him "I didn't know you had this jealous side in you."

"I'm not jealous…" He looked up at me, as I was leaning against the doorframe to the living room. "I'm envious."

Laughing, I put the little take-out box from Hinamori's Patisserie next to my best friend. "Here, I bought too many."

"Thanks." Kira mumbled and began eating the contents. I mentally sighed in relief, seeing him relax even further at the news. Truth be told, these sweets were a sort of 'apology gift'.

There's no need to feel guilty for this stupid issue about Momo's escort, because it seriously meant nothing to me and to her.

But, knowing Kira, I know how much of a big deal this is to him. "Seriously dude, don't worry. As I told you before, she's not my type."

Kira raised his eyebrows at my remark. "How can she not be your type? She's cute, she's smart, funny, kind…"

"Yeah, stop that list, I gotta go home early." I interrupted him, making him laugh. "And you must have some weird filter in your eyes that makes you see her that way. In my opinion, she seriously lacks femininity." In my mind, memories of Momo laughing out loud in the most unlady-like way, her violent way of smacking her hand when she gets over excited, or her enormous appetite that could beat a truck driver. Oh, and least I forget, the way she cries like a toddler. "Don't worry about us, worry about how you're going to confess to her."

And here, Kira began ranting about his new plans on how he's going to confess.

It's almost funny how easily Kira can get distracted.

Oh well, at least I told him… The main shit I have to deal with is the day after tomorrow.

UGH. Just what the hell did I put myself into?

**oOOOo**

**A/N: Aaaaaaaaand that's it. Hopefully, I might be able to update in just a couple of days.**

**Meanwhile, please do leave a review and let me know what you think of the events so far! I'm really giving a thorough analysis on the characters' psychology and their personality, so the story is going at a slow pace for you guys, maybe. I mean, I hate rushing stories, so I'm just going with the flow ahahah.**

**Toodles! xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**oOOOo**

When they opened, we were met by a quick burst of flashes from Yumichika's camera.

Holding Momo's hand, we walked in the room as the guests clapped to welcome the birthday-girl.

**The birthday girl**

"Everyone! Don't panic! The venue is ready, everything's set!" Rangiku screamed. "DO NOT PANIC!"

"We got it, Ran. Geez." Rukia yawned, as she checked her watch. "Alright people, pucker up, 10 minutes to go!"

"And don't panic!"

I sat by one of the big round tables with a bouquet of red roses as the center-piece and scattered petals all over the white cloth. Momo was in some other room, doing whatever girls do to prepare for parties, accompanied by Orihime, and her mom.

The venue they chose was the biggest one available here in Karakura, usually used for all sorts of community events. The white walls were decorated by hundreds of pink and red paper-butterflies, one of the few jobs the girls left for us boys to do. Along the butterfly-things, thin strings of light hung down the walls into cascades.

The red heavy curtains were all pulled to the sides of the large floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a beautiful view of the sunset on the beach.

"Hey, grumpy fella!" Rangiku smacked my shoulder with all her might. "You should go and get ready with Momo, the guests will be here soon."

Nodding, I stood up and got my coat "Off I go." I sighed, as I made my way to search for Momo. Maybe I should've asked Rangiku in which room she was supposed to get ready. I'll just text her, it's got to be one of these doors in the hallway.

**Excuse me sir, can you tell me where I might find Platform 9 and 3 quarters? – Toushirou**

**At the end of the hallway, the door next to the stairs, Mr. Potter. Think you're being funny? :P – Momo**

_Huh… she actually got the joke._ I thought to myself as I made my way to the said door.

I wonder how Momo's feeling, she must be excited for her party.

**Oh, can you bring me some food? I'm sooooo hungry! – Momo**

What? I'm already here though! _Ugh_. **What do you want to eat? – Toushirou**

**Hmmm burger and fries. Oh, and some ice cream! – Momo**

**Jeez. – T**

**Mwaaaaah! – M**

I hung my coat on the doorknob and turned to leave.  
On my way out of the big building, I saw Kira pacing back and forth in front of the double glass doors.  
_What the hell is he doing?_ "You okay?" I asked, once I reached him.

He looked at me, surprised by my sudden presence "Toushirou. I'm nervous." On cue, his hand reached for the back of his neck.

"Nervous for what?" I glanced at my watch; the party is gonna start soon, I better hurry up and get the damned burger and fries before she turns into a hungry demon.

"What if I trip while we dance? I don't want to ruin her party! Oh, my palms are sweaty. I don't want to touch her with sweaty hands. Do you have a napkin?" Kira spurred out in a nervous breakdown.

"Calm down. You'll be just fine." With a reassuring pat on his shoulder, I handed him my handkerchief and left.

_Momo's favorite fast food is not so far from here, but I still need to hurry up, so that she can eat before she has to make her appearance at the party._

In 10 minutes I managed to get back to the venue; people were already filling up the place, while familiar and friendly faces greeted each other. The two heavy wooden doors, leading to that big room we all worked so hard to decorate, were open, welcoming the guests as they arrived. Momo's parents stood by the doors to greet each guest.

**Where's my food? – M**

_Ok, no time to waste, better feed her before she really turns into a demon._ With the paper bag in my hand, I rushed to her changing room and knocked. "If you don't have food, you can't get in!" I heard her chirpy voice from the other side of the old wooden door.

"I've got burger, fries, cola and ice cream!" The door sprung open, and there she was. Her eyes sparkled in happiness, directed to the paper bag in my hand.

She pulled the said paper bag and me in the room before I could even react, and I saw Rangiku with her hands in her hair, desperation clearly etched on her face. "Momo! We still have to fix your hair!"

"My hair doesn't need any fixing, it looks fine!" Momo shrugged as she devoured the burger in a matter of seconds, along with the fries "Ah… this is soooo good!" She gave me a thumbs-up, "You're the best, Mr. Escort."

"More like 'errand boy'." I rolled my eyes.

"Is everyone already here?" Rukia asked me, looking the exact opposite of Rangiku: calm and composed.

"I don't know, probably." I glanced back towards the door. "Should I go and check?"

"NO!" Rangiku screamed "I'll go and check, _you_" she incriminatingly pointed at me "stay here with that little pest over there. I'm going to check and let you know when you have to make your _grand entrance!_"

Momo stuck her tongue out as Rangiku left the room "My hair looks fine like this, ne, Toushirou?"

I glanced at her, sitting on a chair in her strapless red dress, with a heart-shaped neckline decorated with lacy and sparkly things, the skirt was wide, also covered in lace, but less sparkly than the upper part of the dress. A big and super sparkly necklace donned her slim neck, making up for the space the deep neckline of her dress offered. Her hair was pulled up in some sort of complicated looking twirly and braided bun, some strands of her hair fell in curls, but she still looked good. "It looks okay."

_Her eyes look kind of different than usual._

"It's just make up and false lashes!" Momo batted her eyes after reading my mind. "And I didn't read your mind, you said that out loud." She grinned "It's kind of heavy on the eyes, but it looks great!" She fluttered her lashes on cue. "Doesn't it?"

Sighing, I stuffed the spoon filled with ice cream in her mouth "Shut up and finish your food, or Rangiku's going to have some sort of mental breakdown."

"And we need to re-touch your make up before you go out there." Orihime said with a smile, prepping whatever sort of make-up she had to use on Momo.

"I feel like a celebrity with all of this make-up and with this dress." Momo laughed in her usual wacky way. It's kind of funny seeing her acting in her usual careless attitude while being dolled up so carefully. "I can't wait to get these false lashes off and eat without worrying about messing up my dress."

"Why are you even eating, you've got a buffet waiting for you four rooms from here." Rukia laughed. "Hello? Ran?" She then answered her phone. "Okay, let me know when they're closing the doors, I'll send them out then." She stayed silent for a second, then suddenly pushed the phone away from her ear "Calm down, will you!? Jeez, you're going to destroy my eardrums. What? You want me to what?" I swear, I saw her steal a glance towards Momo then me. "Oh. Okay. I can do that. Bye."

"Oh gosh, is that our cue?" Momo jumped up from her seat, licking off the ice cream from her lips.

"Ah, the ever so graceful Momo Hinamori." I muttered, earning a sucker punch on my arm. "OW."

The girls busied themselves with their _final touch-ups_, or whatever they called it. I went out on the balcony to enjoy the sunset over the sea, suddenly feeling nervous for the party.

"Toushirou." I heard Momo say as she stood behind me. "Thank you." She said with a shy tone in her voice.

"You're very much welcome." I glanced at her when she finally made her way next to me. "What is this? Did you get taller?"

She turned to look at me, in her full toothed grin "Yah! I grew up overnight. Totally not because of these skyrocket-high heels." Her foot peeked out of her big-ass skirt, showing her black high heel.

"Right, those traps are going to make you trip and roll on the floor later." I teased.

"Hush, I practiced walking with these 'traps' for weeks!" She answered confidently. "Plus, you'll be next to me the whole time, I'll drag you down with me if I fall."

I laughed and glanced down, only to realize that I didn't have my coat on.

"Looking for this?" Momo pulled up my black suit, which she was apparently hiding behind her huge skirt "You should have told me you were already at my door when I asked for food, earlier."

I shrugged "It's no big deal." I reached for my suit, but she pulled back with a silly smile.

"Let me help you put it on. Just like in the movies!" She was almost jumping up and down in excitement, and in a second she was helping me put my coat on. She even went ahead and straightened my necktie. Her brows furrowed in concentration, though I had no idea what she had to concentrate about when she was just straightening my necktie.

She looks cute, though. _Wait._

_What?_

"Alright, newly-wed couple over there, you two need to go now." Rukia teased. "Wait for Rangiku's intro before going in, the doors will open on cue."

**oOOOo**

"I'm so nervous."

We were standing side by side, in front of the closed wooden doors, waiting for Rangiku's cue to walk in. Momo was fidgeting with her hands, a rare sight for this bright girl which caught me off guard.

"What if I trip because of my heels?" She turned her chocolate-brown eyes at me, in a silent plea. "What if I trip and roll on the floor, like you told me earlier?"

"You practiced on those traps for weeks, didn't you?" I reassured her. "Plus, I'll be next to you the whole time." I could hear music playing on the other side of the wooden doors, I think this is our cue. "I'm not going to let you fall."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and before she could say anything, the doors began to creak open.

When they opened, we were met by a quick burst of flashes from Yumichika's camera. Holding Momo's hand, we walked in the room as the guests clapped to welcome the birthday-girl.

We reached the end of the room, where a temporary stage with a white antique couch stood at its center, surrounded by decorations in red and pink.

When she sat on the couch, while I stood next to her, I stole a glance at her face, worried that she might be uncomfortable from all the eyes in the room staring at her.

But there she was, less than a minute ago she was close to tears from anxiety, now smiling in such a dazzling way as she greeted happily every single guest from where she sat.

I couldn't help but smile. _This girl is going to drive me crazy._

_Wait… what?_

Shaking my head, Rangiku went ahead to liven up the party. When the introduction to the party's program ended, we went to our designated table, where the rest of the gang sat.

"You two look like a newly-wed couple."  
"Where are you going for your honeymoon?"  
"Hey, pass the bouquet to Yumichika later."

In the midst of the group's teasing, Momo and I sat between Rukia and Kira, as Momo bickered with everyone.

"Want to switch seats?" I whispered to Kira after noticing his endless stolen glances towards Momo.

He quickly shook his head, his face flushing immediately. "That would be too obvious."

Shrugging, I turned to Momo. "What do you want to eat?"

She glanced towards the long row of food across the room. "It's okay, I can go and get it."

"What are you even talking about, Momo. He's your slave for this evening! Use him!" Rangiku began rubbing her hands together, with an evil glint in her eyes. "Ne, Toushirou, why don't you go ahead and get a huge fill of curry, tonkatsu, seafood pasta, and—"

"Hey hey hey, he's Momo's escort, not yours." Rukia nudged Rangiku and pointed her finger to the rest of the guys. "Be useful like Toushirou and get food for all of us."

Following the girls' orders, we made our way to line up for food at the buffet tables.

"Dude, seriously though," Ichigo swung his arm over my shoulders and whispered "Momo and you look like a couple."

I rolled my eyes and began grabbing all sorts of food "Ha-ha. Funny."

Renji was nodding to himself "Momo looks stunning, dolled up and everything."

Ikkaku went ahead to smack him right on the forehead "Stop having dirty thoughts, you baboon head."

"WHAT? I'm not having those kinds of thoughts, you stupid bald head!"

The two continued their bickering, Ichigo continued his teasing, and I was mentally thanking God that Kira decided to stay back at the table with Ishida and the girls. "Stop that. You know Kira likes her."

"Yeah, everyone does. And I think everyone also knows that it's time for him to move on and understand that sometimes, things don't go as we want them to." Ichigo shrugged, "Too bad, too sad, he's already been rejected, man. Too many times."

Ah, the sad and cruel truth. Poor Kira, everyone used to root for him, now they just want him to give up and move on.  
I wonder if Momo's going to give him a chance this time.

I snapped out of it. _Why am I having these thoughts. That's none of my business._

"Agreed." Renji interrupted my train of thoughts with his mouth full of whatever he was eating.

**oOOOo**

After eating all sorts of food, playing countless silly party games and other traditional ceremonies for the party, it was time for the dances.

Kira couldn't sit still on his seat, I could see him from the stage.  
Momo made me sit next to her on the white couch, saying how stupid it seemed for me to just stand there while she was sitting pretty.

"Now, it's time for the last and most awaited event." Rangiku cheered. "The 18 Roses!"

The 17 chosen guys were already lined up, each of them with a red rose in their hand.

The dances started off with Momo's dad, slow music engulfed the room and covered the buzz from people talking.

I decided to join the other 17 roses, waiting for my turn. Kira was the 17th rose.  
"T-t-t-toushirou, I hope I won't mess up."

I rolled my eyes "Don't worry, you just have to sway slowly to the beat. It's going to be okay."

"Is my dance with Momo going to last that long?" His eyes widened in panic. "I can't last that long with her."

"No, man. That's the first dance, it's always the dance that takes up a lot of time." I laughed, since that was something everyone in this village knew about. "Calm down, you'll be fine."

As everyone took their turn to dance with Momo, people laughed when Renji took his turn and danced some sort of tribal dance, Ikkaku danced with weird crab moves, Ishida turned slow dancing to salsa, for which I have absolutely no idea how he did it, and then it was Kira's turn.

"Go, dude!" I gave him a small push towards the middle of the room, where Momo stood holding 16 roses in her small hand.

A part of the room started cheering, I guess other students from our school know about Kira's one-sided-love.

As they slowly danced, I noticed Momo suddenly blush. She looked at Kira with sad yet serious eyes and he averted his gaze from hers. The atmosphere between them turned awkward, and their dance dragged on until it was my turn.

Momo smiled as I handed her the last rose. "Toushirou."

With a hand on her waist, and the other helping her hold the roses, we began slowly swaying to the music. "What is it?"

Her eyes moved back towards the big wooden doors, as she's been doing during the whole party. "He's not coming, is he?"

_Aizen. _I tilted my head, cutting off her sight of the door. "You're still waiting for him?"

"Not anymore." She paused, not saying a thing for a couple of seconds. "My feet hurt."

I burst into laughter. "And here I thought you were going to say something serious!"

She couldn't hold back a smile of her own "It _is_ serious."

Our eyes met in the midst of our laughter, and something happened. In that moment, in that instant, something _changed_. I don't know what, or why, but I just knew that everything was going to be different from that moment.

As our dance came to an end, a shiver ran up my spine. _No._  
_No, no, no. This can't happen._

I clenched my hands into fists as I let her go. She smiled, a kind of smile I've never seen before.

_No._

**oOOOo**

Countless games went on, laughter and music filled the room. In other words, the party was a blast.

"Before we end this party, let us all have one final dance." Rangiku announced, "Everyone, find yourselves a partner!"

Slow music started to play, old married couples began to fill the dancefloor. Friends went ahead and joined in. Ichigo (obviously) invited Rukia to dance, Renji went with Orihime, Ikkaku found himself a partner from another table, so did Ishida, while Yumichika was busy taking photos of everyone. Rangiku was busy talking with some guy, so only Kira, Momo and I were left at our table.

'_Come on man, this is your chance.'_ I tried to telepathically tell Kira through a wide-eyed stare, but he just blankly looked back at me and shook his head. "I'm going to the toilet, you two should go ahead and dance." He said instead.

My brows shot up in surprise. Did I just hear that right? This was such a huge chance for him. I glanced at Momo, her back was turned to me so I couldn't see her facial expression. What happened during the 18 Roses with Kira?

Then she turned towards me with a smile "They all look like they're having fun, huh?"

I glanced at the people on the dancefloor "I can't disagree." I smiled, "They're all enjoying themselves. I guess it's pretty normal, you know we don't have many big events to celebrate here."

"I'm glad I organized my birthday party to be this grand, then." She turned back to look at the guests with a smile.

Around 10 pm people started to leave, the next day they were going to repeat their usual routine.

We started tidying up the venue after letting Momo's parents go home, while the birthday girl decided to stay behind and help.

Something was weird, though. Kira and Momo, to be specific. I wonder if it has anything to do with what he told her when they were dancing.

And what exactly did he tell her? Momo tried to approach him earlier, but he seemed off, so distant and awkward. In fact, he didn't even stay behind to help us, which is quite unusual for him.

"Did Kira tell you?" Renji whispered, but his whisper was way too loud to be even called a whisper.

"What?"

"I don't know, man. Whatever happened with him and Momo! Like, when they were dancing!" On cue, Renji got whacked on the back of his head.

"Can you guys keep it down?" Rukia hushed both me and Renji, though why I was included in the scolding, I have no idea. "I can hear you across the room."

"Alright, the three of you. Instead of chatting, mind your own businesses and clean up so we can go home." Ichigo divided the three of us, and once again, I'm still not sure why I got included in their scolding.

I headed towards the long tables that held the buffet, the catering service already took away their food containers and whatnots, all I had to do was throw away all the plastic cups sitting randomly on the tables.

I wonder, though. Did he confess again?

Momo was on the other end of the row of tables, I could see her wincing.  
Before I knew it, I was already standing by her side, holding her up when she almost stumbled down. "You okay?"

She laughed it off. "Yeah, thank God this didn't happen during the party."

"Oh, Momo-chan. Your feet must be killing you." Orihime said with a concerned look.

"It's okay, I already took my high heels off." Momo pointed towards the white couch where she sat before, as her shoes rested under it.  
She lifted up her skirt to check her feet, they were swollen and incredibly red on the sides. "It's not as bad as it looks. I'm okay!"

"You're actually walking with bare feet when they're in that state."

"It's okay, it's okay." She dismissively waved her hand. "I brought a pair of sandals to change into anyway–"

"I'll go and get them" I said as I helped her up on the stage to sit on the white couch. "Stay here."

After a long sigh, she agreed "Aye, sir."

I went to the said changing room and looked for her shoes or sandals, or whatever she brought.

And only in that moment did the things that happened during the past week really sink in my head.  
The preparations, me being her escort, Kira probably confessing again, Momo still waiting for that Aizen guy… and that… _moment_. How is that even supposed to be called? It never happened to me before.

I quickly shook my head, pushing these thoughts in some dark corner in my brain. Everything I've done was in favor of a _friend_. Nothing more, nothing less.

I didn't expect to enjoy the party as much as I did. I didn't expect to be surprised by Momo's dolled up appearance. I didn't expect to enjoy being by her side during the whole party.

_Ughhh stop having weird thoughts._ Yeah, I really should stop. Oh, there are her sandals. God, they're so small; have her feet always been so small?

_There's no reason for me to have such thoughts. My best friend is madly in love with her, I can't do this to him. _I made my way back to the main room where everyone was at, and I noticed Renji and Ikkaku standing by its entrance, whispering to one another while focusing their attention on one direction.

"What's going on?" I asked, immediately smelling something fishy about their middle-aged-women-like-behavior.

"Hurry! Look over there!" Renji whispered loudly enough for me to hear as I approached them.  
"He's pretty cute." Ikkaku quickly added with a nod.

"Who is?"

I curiously peeked in the room; Orihime, Rangiku and Rukia were grouped up in the left side of the room, whispering and bickering with each other; Ichigo and Ishida were still concentrated on their tasks of cleaning up the venue; I looked up on the stage where I left Momo and a tall unfamiliar figure was standing next to her.

She was looking up at him with a huge smile on her face, and I quickly understood who it was.

"That's Aizen Sousuke."

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyoneeeeee! It's been so long since I last updated, I'm so sorry! I've just been so busy with university and all of that jazz, this year is my last year as a student (yay) and I can't wait to just get over school and everything. I'm currently in the middle of my exam sessions, but I did my best to finish this as soon as I could!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please do leave a review or PM me and let me know what you think **

**XOXO**

**SNOWYFOREST**


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